Coming Back
by Athena's Marauder
Summary: Percy Jackson awakes in an abandoned hospital, finding the war has vastly changed, including the enemy at hand. Apocalypse AU/Walking Dead Inspired
1. Crash Landing

A warm wind shuddered past the plastic curtain by Percy's hospital bed. _Hospital bed?_ Percy thought to himself. Why was he in the hospital? Ever since he'd learned who and what his father was, Percy hadn't set foot in a hospital. He hadn't been all that fond of doctors in the first place, but demigods didn't really like to make trips to the ER. Trying to explain to a concerned nurse how you obtained a sword gash in your leg wasn't exactly easy. And besides that, ambrosia and nectar worked just fine.

Percy wracked his brain for any clues. The last thing he remembered was heading to the underworld with Nico Di Angelo. Nico had had a plan to defeat Kronos.

"Kronos!" Percy yelled, jumping out of bed. How long had he been out? Was it already past his sixteenth birthday? He looked around his room for any sign, a cell phone, or a calendar, or a newspaper.

He found a medical chart on the end of his bed. The words in front of him swam. Doctor's handwriting was absolute murder on dyslexic kids. He found the date at the top, nearly dropping the clipboard.

"August 20th," He said out loud, almost to try and convince himself he had read it wrong.

Percy had missed the deadline. His friends were probably all doomed. His stomach turned as he thought about all the demigods at camp. His parents in the city. His best friend Grover. He thought about Annabeth. Tears burned his eyes as he thought about the last time he had talked to her. They had fought about something stupid, Percy being dense and Annabeth being stubborn. Percy had never told her how he felt and now he doubted he would get the chance.

Percy reached for the phone next to the bed hoping maybe to be able to try Annabeth's cell phone, but as he brought it to his ear, he heard only silence. No dial tone, no busy signal, nothing. He knew that the Titan had wanted to destroy humanity, but if Percy and this hospital were still standing, he thought maybe Kronos hadn't yet gotten to his master plan. Percy grabbed the courtesy message pad by the phone. The letterhead at the top told him he was still in Los Angeles.

A crash outside his door startled him into dropping the pad. Then as he thought about it, that was the first noise he'd heard since he had woken up. If he was in a hospital in Los Angeles, shouldn't it be alive with sound? Percy finally took note of his surroundings, finding none of the machines running, the bed next to his empty and unmade, and the florescent lights overhead had been long dead.

Percy's uneasy feeling got worse, turning his empty gut hard. He opened the closet by his bed and found the clothes he'd been wearing the night he left with Nico, jean cutoffs and a plain white t shirt. They smelled musty, liked they'd been hanging there for weeks but Percy figured anything would be better than a hospital gown. He quickly pulled them on, breathing a sigh of relief when he found Riptide in his jeans' pocket.

He uncapped his sword and held it in front of him as he cautiously approached the door. Percy always thought that line about being "too quiet" was so cliche, but that's exactly how the halls of the hospital felt. He scoped out the floor he woke up on. Every room he passed was empty. The nurse's station was completely abandoned, even though the sunshine outside told him it was probably around noon. Had Kronos really wiped out the entire country that fast? And if he had, why leave Percy?

Percy turned as he heard the dragging of feet. He lowered his sword, seeing it was just a small girl at the other end of the hall. He knew she wouldn't be able to see Riptide anyways, but he didn't feel right brandishing a sword at a kid.

"Hey," He said softly. "What are you doing in here all alone?" The girl didn't answer, but she shuffled towards him, keeping her head down. Something about her gait wasn't right. She walked as if her leg was broken, but the pain didn't seem to bother her.

"Are you okay?" He asked as she kept steadily approaching. Her head finally snapped up and Percy couldn't stifle a scream as he saw her face, flesh rotting off and bone exposed.

He didn't have time to think about what to do next before an arrow sprouted from the girl's skull, knocking her back onto the ground. Percy clutched his hands over his heart like an old southern belle. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen. Sure, his dad was a god and he fought monsters on an almost daily basis but walking dead girls? That was well above his pay grade.

"Nice shot, Frank," a boy's voice said from behind where Percy was having his near heart attack. "Apollo would be proud."

Percy's ears pricked up at the god's name. He had just been saved by halfbloods. Unfortunately, that wasn't always a good sign. He turned, seeing a small group. Clearly Frank was the big guy with the bow and arrow. He had two blond boys with him, but that's where the similarities ended with those two. One was thin, pale, and crazed looking, while the other was very handsome and tall, with strangely familiar blue eyes and a golden sword.

"You okay, man?" The handsome blond asked.

"You're a demigod," Percy said stupidly.

"So are you," The blond said, pointing at Riptide with his own sword. "I don't recognize you from Camp, though." Percy stared at the boys. He didn't recognize any of them either. Camp Halfblood had plenty of kids but Percy had been going since he was twelve years old. He knew at least everyone by first name. Unless these three had shown up in the time Percy had been here, but they seemed too well trained, too old to be new campers. How long had he been out exactly?

Percy's hand tensed on his sword as more footsteps approached. Two girls came up the steps by the broken elevator, carrying armfuls of gauze and scratchy hospital blankets. They paused at the sight of Percy on the ground but Frank gave them a reassuring nod. One girl was very small, with wild cinnamon hair and the other was not much bigger but her piercing black eyes gave her the demeanor of someone three times her size.

"Reyna, Hazel," Frank said, "this is our new friend, uh, I didn't catch your name."

"Percy Jackson," Percy said, his voice shaking.

"Well, Percy, I'm Frank and this is Jason," Frank said, pointing to the boy with the golden sword.

"My name's Octavian," the thin boy said, shooting a glare at Frank for not introducing him. Frank rolled his eyes.

"You said you're from camp, right?" Percy asked. All five nodded. "You have to tell me what happened, with the war and the prophecy?"

The five other demigods looked at each other, confused. How could they not know about the war? That's all anyone at camp talked about since the Battle of the Labyrinth. Even if they were all new, they must have heard about it.

"What are you talking about?" Octavian asked, his tone toxic like Percy was bothering him. The little one, who Percy assumed was Hazel, looked at Percy sympathetically.

"We don't know anything about a war," She said. He looked at them, now just as confused as they were.

"Well, what about Annabeth? Do you know where she is?" Percy asked. "I've gotta talk to her. She still hasn't forgiven me for disappearing last summer."

"Annabeth?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, Annabeth," Percy said. "You know, smart, blonde, gorgeous, carries a wicked scary knife, won't shut up about landmarks? Annabeth Chase."

"Dude, I've been at Camp my whole life and I've never met anyone named Annabeth Chase," Jason said.

"What do you mean you've been at camp your whole life?" Percy asked. He was sure he would've seen this kid before, he looked like the kind of guy all the Aphrodite girls would've been after, the popular type, not someone who could blend into the background. "How could you not know Annabeth? She's been at Camp Halfblood longer than anyone."

"Camp Halfblood?" Reyna asked, eyeing Percy like she didn't quite trust him.

Percy rolled his eyes, a little exasperated. "Yes, Camp Halfblood, what other demigod camps do you know of?" He asked sarcastically.

"Well, for starters, Camp Jupiter," Jason said. "The camp we're from. We've never heard of a Camp Halfblood."

"Camp Jupiter?" Percy asked. "Are you a bunch of astronomy nerds?"

Jason looked slightly offended. "No, like Jupiter, Jupiter. You said you were a demigod? How do you not know Jupiter?"

"Uh, I know it's the biggest planet in the solar system," Percy said. _"Thanks, Bill Nye."_ He thought to himself.

"Not the planet, the god, you dumbass," Reyna said, annoyed. "Obviously, he means the god."

Percy wasn't all that great at school, but he'd paid close attention to mythology since he had discovered they actually existed and wanted to kill him. He thought for a moment. "I think I remember. Jupiter is Zeus, right?"

"I mean, you aren't wrong," Frank said, holding his bow close to his chest, looking at Jason.

"Whatever, can you please just tell me what happened with Kronos?" Percy asked, holding his hand to his temple. This entire encounter was making his head spin. "He's why everyone is gone, right?"

"Do you mean Saturn?" Jason asked.

"What's with you guys and the planets?"

"What's with _you_ and the planets?" Jason asked.

Percy hauled himself to his feet. He was quickly growing tired of this game. "Listen, all I know is I left my camp, Camp Halfblood, a few days ago and the next thing I know I'm here. Kronos, Saturn, whatever you want to call him, had an army ready for me to turn to sixteen so he could attack Olympus. Now this place is abandoned and it's August 20th, which is two days after he was going to attack and I'm apparently still standing. What the hell is going on?"

"Well, I can tell you one thing," Jason said, any annoyance leaving him, quickly replaced with sympathy. "It's well into October."


	2. Golden

"We have to set up for the night," Grover said, placing his hand on Annabeth's shoulder. She had been so focused on the road ahead of her she hadn't noticed the sun setting behind her. Annabeth knew what nightfall meant. Still, she wanted to keep moving forward. They had gone nearly three months with no leads, even Grover's empathy link had gone cold, but Annabeth didn't believe he could be dead. They had spent weeks in Los Angeles looking for him once Nico had come back with news that they had been attacked entering the Underworld. That was the last anyone had heard of Percy.

Until a frightened young halfblood stumbled into camp, saying he had been helped in Oregon by a guy who sounded a lot like Percy and who had sent him to Camp Halfblood, they were blindly searching for him, with the entirety of the United States as a target. Needless to say they hadn't had much luck.

Annabeth stared at the horizon for a long moment before nodding. "Yeah, you're right," She said. They had had to ditch their stolen car when it ran out of gas a few miles back and they weren't having much luck finding another one that was running or wasn't wedged in traffic. Even the houses by the high way they were walking along stood alone. When the dead started coming back, everyone loaded up their vehicles and hauled ass to where ever was rumored to be safe. "That house up there," Luke said, pointing to a big blue house surrounded by a tall gate a little ways up the hill.

"Perfect," Annabeth agreed, leading the group up the dirt road to the house. Grover shuffled to her, going out of earshot of Luke.

"We shouldn't always listen to him," Grover warned, glancing back to where Luke was talking to Will about proper sword handling. Will looked bored out of his mind.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I know we shouldn't, but it's a stupid house," She said. "What, do you think it was a trap set up by Kronos three months in advance, in the hopes we might somehow end up roaming around the highways in Idaho?"

Grover blushed. "Baaaa, you know what I mean, Annabeth," He said. "I'm just looking out, I'm still your protector."

"I know, Grover," Annabeth softened, smiling at him slightly. "But I want you to trust that I can make decisions myself. I know what Luke did, but thing's are different now."

"He says," Grover grumbled.

"I didn't leave him at camp with the others, did I?" Annabeth said. "I'm not trusting him fully I'm just," She sighed. "I'm just giving him the benefit of the doubt."

"You're right," Grover said, like he didn't quite believe her. Annabeth was annoyed but she couldn't really blame him. Grover of all people knew Annabeth had a soft spot for Luke. Maybe she was being stupid, but she couldn't lose Percy and turn Luke away. Even she wasn't soft enough to leave Luke unattended at Camp Halfblood.

Annabeth looked back at Luke, meeting his eyes, his blue eyes. He smiled at her sadly, like he knew she was doubting herself.

 _Camp had been alive with fear for days, ever since the first walker strolled passed the border and nearly bit Conner Stoll. The walkers were visible even to mortals, the Mist didn't even try to hide them. Within days the population of New York was halved. When Annabeth led a raid into the city, it had been mostly empty. Sure there were some people who stole up to top floor apartments and stayed in the city like true Yankees, but for the most part everyone left for the sanctuaries. But the even safety of the sanctuaries didn't last very long. The demigods were sure this had to be Kronos' doing; it was already a week after Percy's sixteenth birthday and they hadn't seen any sign of him or his army, even Typhon's attacks had stopped. But the campers had no reason to rejoice. The gods had fallen silent as well._

 _Annabeth had tried to send Iris messages to Percy, but no one could get through. The rainbow goddess was MIA with the rest. Percy was with Nico, that much Juniper had told them. The demigods had to worry about the walkers in addition to the war that they weren't even sure was oncoming anymore. Annabeth didn't think Kronos would just give up, but it was starting to seem that way. Annabeth tried not to think about it, hoping that any minute Percy would waltz into camp like he always did with a half assed plan and Can-Do-If-I-Don't-Become-Monster-Chow attitude._

 _"He'll make it home somehow," Chiron said, as if he could read Annabeth's thoughts. She blushed, looking back down at the checklists she was making for the groups of demigods they were sending out for supplies. "He's a resourceful young man. Percy will get back to us, he's smart."_

 _"Tell that to the zipper fly he caught on fire," Annabeth said. She felt very guarded with her emotions since she'd made a fool of herself last summer. She thought Percy was going on a suicide mission and she'd kissed him, only for him to spend weeks with the beautiful Titaness Calypso and come back in the middle of her eulogy._

 _"We're all worried about him, child," Chiron assured. Annabeth shrugged, tears stinging her eyes. She kept her head down, not wanting Chiron to know she was upset. Of course, as he was her resident father, he would know anyways. Chiron was about to say more when the door to the Big House swung open, Grover breathing heavily like he had heard it was Enchilada Tuesday._

 _"What is it, Grover?" Chiron asked, his hand patting the words out of the satyr's back._

 _"Nico's back," Grover wheezed._

 _Annabeth heard all she needed to. She grabbed her knife from the table and ran back out the way Grover had come. It wasn't hard to find the source of the commotion; all the campers had gathered up on Halfblood Hill. Annabeth's heart pumped hundred beats per second as she ran to the hill._

"If Nico's back," _she thought to herself,_ "Maybe Percy is close by. Maybe he knows where Percy is."

 _Annabeth ran up the hill, pushing through the crowd. The other campers knew better than to stand in Annabeth's way and parted like the Red Sea._

 _Annabeth's heart shuttered to a complete stop. It wasn't a dark raven haired boy holding up Nico di Angelo like Annabeth had hoped. It was a blond with a scar cutting down his face, straight up to his blue eyes. Not golden like they had been just months before when she had seen him in the Labyrinth, but the same blue they had been when he had rescued her from the alley when she was just seven years old._

 _"Luke," Annabeth said, her voice suddenly hoarse and quiet.  
_

 _"Quick, he's hurt, we have to get him to the Big House," Luke explained. "Some dracanae chased him down."_

 _"What are you doing here?" Annabeth asked, regaining her confidence and in turn, her anger towards the traitor._

 _"Annabeth, please," Luke said, his voice sounding sincere, though Annabeth knew she couldn't always trust that. Luke was a very convincing actor, he had proved that much already._

 _"Where's Kronos?" She asked._

 _"I don't know," Luke said. "He's gone. He's just...gone."_

The house looked to have been abandoned for quite some time. Luckily the owner had left some cans of soup in the cabinets; their rations were getting low. Annabeth stoked the fire place, cooking dinner for the others while Grover munched on cans and Will looking through the kitchen for supplies.

"Mind if I sit?" Luke asked.

Annabeth's stomach clenched. As much as she had missed Luke in the last few years, as much as she had hoped she could change his mind and make him come back to their side, having him with her now felt...wrong. Still, she nodded.

"You asked Chiron to let you bring me along," Luke said, staring at the fire in front of them as the soup heated.

"Yep," Annabeth answered shortly.

"Why?" He asked. "You don't trust me."

"Exactly," She said.

"You don't want me around the other campers," Luke supplied. "You don't want me around Percy's mom."

"I like Sally too much to make her deal with you," Annabeth said. "If I'm going to leave her at Camp the least I could do is keep her safe."

"You think I'd hurt a pregnant lady?" Luke said with a incredulous laugh.

"You literally hosted a Titan who wanted to take over the world and destroy humanity," Annabeth said, finally turning to face Luke. "So yeah, I do."

Luke stared at the fire. "Okay fair."

Annabeth sighed. "Luke, I get you're trying. I do."

"I am."

"And that's super. But you can't think I'm just going to go back to being that cute little kid who thinks the sun shines out your ass. Because of you, people died. People I care about. People you used to care about too. You can't undo that and you have to deal with the consequences."

They sat in silence for a long moment. "You're right," Luke said finally.

"I usually am."

"When'd you get so smart, Wise Girl?" Luke joked, clearly trying to get on her good side, but instead it just made her skin crawl.

"Don't," She warned. "Do not call me that."

"Sorry, I just-," Luke started.

"I know, but don't."

"Do you guys hear that?" Will said suddenly, his head peeping above the kitchen counter.

"Hear wha-,"

"Shhhhh!" Will said, brandishing a kitchen knife. He crawled to the front window, reminding the others to stay low. Annabeth hurried forward, crouching behind him. Will peeled the curtains back slowly.

"What in Hades," Will said, immediately standing.

"Will, what are you doing?" Annabeth almost shouted.

Will ignored her, unlocking the front door and swinging it wide open, letting the dark figure in the doorway slump forward onto the floor.

"Nico?" Annabeth said, helping Will pull the son of Hades into the house and locking the door behind them.

Nico pulled Annabeth in, his lips almost touching her ear. "I know where he is," Nico said, his voice barely audible, even so close.

"Grover, get the nectar," Will ordered, pulling pillows from the couch to put under Nico's head.

"Nico, you need to rest," Annabeth said, propping him up. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but Nico shook his head.

"The ghosts," He said. "They told me. They told me where Percy is."


	3. Up in Flames

"We're surrounded!" Piper yelled over the groaning of the living dead just outside the flimsy tin door of the shed they had barricaded themselves in. Leo knew it was a dumb idea in the first place to run into the shed. He should know; he was the master of dumb ideas.

It was his fault they were in this mess. Leo thought if he could get inside and grab some tools from the garage, he could get to the satellite on the roof and get a signal to see if they could find a sanctuary that was still running. It was a long shot, but Leo and Piper were exhausted from running and hiding. But of course, as soon as he'd opened the doors, walkers pushed themselves out and chased them into the backyard. Piper managed to clock one of them with her crow bar but there were still at least a dozen others.

"I know what you're thinking, Valdez," Piper said, her voice suddenly calm. "Don't. We both get ourselves into trouble. This was just your turn. I'll probably get us half drowned next time, don't beat yourself up."

"No, they'll do that for me," Leo said, but despite their situation, he felt almost at ease suddenly. Piper had that effect on him.

Leo looked around the shed, trying to find anything that would help them. Shovels, great, they could dig their own graves. A couple hammers, not much of a weapon unless the dead got really close.

The small window next to Piper's head shattered, breaking Leo's concentration. The two screamed as a hand grasped onto Piper's hair, threatening to pull her out the window by her scalp.

"Piper!" Leo yelled, scrambling to grab one of the shovels. He couldn't let them get her. In two months on the run together, Leo was already closer to her than any kid he had ever shared a home with. He thought about all the times Piper had saved him. He felt so helpless now, something he was very used to. His heart pounded so loud he was sure every walker for miles could hear it. He couldn't lose Piper.

Leo felt like his chest were about to burst and he began to panic, dropping the shovel. His whole body felt hot, feverish. He watched as the walkers outside the shed burned to ash. He knew what was happening, but he didn't want to believe it. The walker holding onto Piper let go and she hurried away from the window, watching the scene in horror as the fire died down and left the smell of burnt flesh.

"I'm sorry," Leo said, his voice hoarse.

"Wha...how," Piper stuttered. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know," Leo said truthfully. He had only done it once before, the night his mother died. He had tried to avoid it ever since.

"How is that even possible?" Piper said.

Leo pulled himself together enough to fake a laugh. "You wanna talk about the impossible when we get chased by corpses on the daily?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Thanks for saving me, Leo."

"Anytime, _hermana_ ," Leo said. He covered it well, but he was still terrified about what had just happened. He didn't like to lose control like that. What if he had hurt Piper instead of saving her? It had happened before and he wasn't about to let it happen again.

 _The auditorium of the Wilderness School smelled like sweaty teens and fresh paint. The vinyl theater seats were hot and sticky, much like everything else in Nevada was in August. Leo fidgeted in his seat. He didn't want to be here anymore than he had wanted to be at any foster home, but any place would be better than the family he had had to spend the last month with. No matter how many times he explained to them he, his mother, and his grandfather were all born in Texas, they would refuse to call him anything but "the illegal" unless his social worker was around and considered feeding him a waste of money._

 _His social worker, Mary Ann, was good at her job but she was now, Leo assumed, at least a hundred and years working for a flawed system made her hopeless and eager to just get home to her cats. Leo liked her well enough despite that. Mary Ann was the only adult who didn't think Leo was a complete delinquent; she was the one to convince the judge not to send him to a group home after he ran away yet again and instead send him to the Wilderness School._

 _Leo munched on the hard candy Mary Ann always kept in her purse, only half listening to the principal up on the stage talk about what he expected from all these "troubled youths". He nudged Mary Ann next to him, as she was starting to snore, but she still remained asleep._

 _"Is she alright?" The girl sitting on the other side of Mary Ann asked. She was about his age, probably a freshman like him, pretty, with choppy chocolate colored hair with a feather braided into a strand, warm brown skin, and eyes that seemed to change color even in the dim light._

 _"Yeah, she's fine," Leo said. "We drove all the way here from Texas, she's just tired. Jolly Rancher?" He offered. The woman next to her looked at Leo disapprovingly but didn't say anything, turning back to type furiously on her phone. She looked like she could have been Mary Ann a few decades ago, with a tight bun and severe glasses. The girl smiled and took a blue candy from Leo._

 _"I'm Piper," The girl said._

 _"Leo Valdez," Leo said. He picked out all the blue Jolly Ranchers and handed them over to Piper, making her laugh. "Blue raspberry is the worst."_

 _"You're entitled to your wrong opinion," Piper said. "It's my favorite."_

 _"Wow and here I thought you were cool," Leo said. The woman next to Piper shushed them, as if she were actually trying to listen to the orientation. Piper rolled her eyes. "That's not your mom, is it?" Leo asked, keeping his voice quiet._

 _"Who, Jane?" Piper said, fake gagging. "No, she works for my dad."_

 _Leo didn't take Piper for a spoiled rich kid, she seemed too down to earth, but he still couldn't help but feel a little let down. He knew most kids here could be split into two groups, kids like him who were just wards of the state that the state got tired of shuffling around and brats with millionaire parents who acted out for attention and instead got shipped off. She was pretty and wealthy, a perfect recipe for popularity. Give her a few days and she wouldn't even think about the scrappy kid who shared his candy at orientation._

 _Piper seemed to sense his uneasiness. "Is this your...Grandma?" Piper asked, gesturing to Mary Ann._

 _"No, my social worker," Leo said, point blank._

 _"Oh," Piper looked uncomfortable, as most people do when they found out about Leo's home life, or lack there of. He had been in foster care since he was eight years old, he was used to it by now, but Piper's reaction seemed genuine, like she was afraid she had made_ him _uncomfortable._

 _"She comes with snacks, though," Leo said, lifting up the bag of candy. "So like, bonus."_

 _They both jumped as Mary Ann sat up between them suddenly. She looked around, curiously, like she didn't know where she was. "Jeez, you scared me," Leo said, with a startled laugh. "Don't worry, I saved all the watermelon ones for you, Mary Ann."_

 _Mary Ann looked directly at Leo, but it was like she wasn't looking at him at all. Her eyes had a white film over them as if she had gone blind over the course of her nap. "Mary Ann?" Leo asked._

 _"Leo," Piper said, her voice shaky. People around them started to turn to look at what was going on, even Jane had put her phone down for a moment. "Leo, I don't think...I don't think she's breathing."_

 _Mary Ann whipped her head around, glaring at Piper with her milky eyes. Just as Mary Ann lunged at her, Piper hopped over an empty seat in front of her. Mary Ann didn't seem phased, she merely changed her target. The old woman grabbed a startled Jane by the shoulders and clamped down on her cheek, tearing a sizable chunk from her face._

 _The auditorium exploded with screams and Leo had the good sense to quickly grab Mary Ann's purse and jump over the seats just like Piper had while Mary Ann was distracted. He grabbed Piper's hand and ran for the exits that everyone was trying to push out of._

 _They broke outside finally, everyone scrambling to their cars. He led Piper to where he and Mary Ann had parked not even an hour before. He tried to push back the nauseating thought of Mary Ann eating someone's face. He had known her since he was eight years old. She had always believed him when he told her his foster parents were cruel or neglectful. She had even bent the rules and took him home with her when she had found bruises on him. He knew she actually cared about him. Leo wanted to turn around and go back for her, but he knew whatever was in there was no longer Mary Ann._

 _"What the hell just happened?" Piper yelled as she got in the passenger seat of Mary Ann's Volvo._

 _"I saw this on the news," Leo said, his fingers shaking as he put the key in the ignition and pulled out as fast as he could. They shot out of the parking lot and onto the highway. Leo knew looking like he did and driving at this speed would get him pulled over but that was what he would call "irrelevant" at this point.  
_

 _"What?" Piper said. "That can't be right, everyone said that was a hoax."_

 _"Did that look like a hoax to you, there, Piper?"_

 _"I saw those videos online," Piper said, looking down at her trembling hands. "They all looked so fake. Why isn't this a bigger deal? Why isn't the government doing something?"_

 _"The government just sweeps things under the rug," Leo said, still speeding down the road despite being a good ten miles away from the Wilderness School now. "I'm sure they're just hiding all these...whatever they are away with the aliens and Sasquatch."_

 _"This isn't the X Files, Leo," Piper said, managing an eye roll._

 _"Isn't it, though?" Leo asked. "I, for one, would love to have Scully here right now, at least she's armed."_

 _"Your social worker," Piper said, her voice choking up again. "She was...she was just asleep, wasn't she?"_

 _Leo held face for Piper's sake. "She was old," He said, gripping tighter to the steering wheel and finally slowing down. "She probably died while we were eating her candy, right in that chair."_

 _Piper reached out, putting her hand on Leo's arm. "Leo, I'm really-," Leo shook his head. They drove in silence for a long time before Piper finally spoke. "You don't have your license, do you?"_

Piper sat on the edge of the window, her feet on top of the roof, handing Leo tools when he asked and sipping on a can of Cherry Coke that they had found in the kitchen. Despite the attack of dead they had faced early, it was a pretty nice day. The sun was starting to go down and they knew more walkers would show up in the neighborhood, but they had already dead proofed the house for that night.

"This is going to take a while," Leo sighed, sitting down on the windowsill next to Piper. She handed him a can.

"What are you even trying to do?" Piper asked. "No one even has working phones anymore."

"No, but sanctuaries have old school computers that run through satellites," Leo explained. "That nurse in New Mexico showed me the one they use to communicate with other sanctuaries. It's all in Morse code, it's almost like a telegraph."

"So you're just going to rewire a satellite, rig up a computer system, learn Morse code, and send out a message to sanctuaries that probably aren't running anymore?"

"No," Leo said, popping open his Coke. "I already know Morse code."

Piper laughed. "Of course you do, is there anything you don't know?"

Leo shoved Piper back through the window so fast she spilled her drink on herself. "Shit, Leo! What the Hell?" She asked as he jumped in as well, poking his head up to peer out the window.

"There's people," Leo said.

Piper pulled herself up, a mixture of fear and excitement welling in her stomach. They hadn't seen any other living people in two weeks. But the people they saw last had tried to kidnap Piper and cut Leo into pieces. Luckily, they weren't that bright and Piper was able to slip away while her guard was asleep and steal their truck. Needless to say, people now a days weren't always a good sign.

"They're kids," Leo said. There was only two boys, about their age, both tall and muscular but lean. One was lazily pushing a skateboard while carrying a bat. He had shaggy black hair with a streak of gray and even from here, Piper could see his skin, tan like hers, was scarred. She thought she knew him from somewhere. The other boy, the one who caught Piper's eye, couldn't look more different from the first. His hair was white blond and neat. He carried a long kitchen knife and he looked ready to use it, despite currently laughing at something his friend said.

"Control yourself, McLean," Leo laughed.

"Shut up," Piper blushed, shoving him.

"He's a cutie, go say hi," Leo said. Piper rolled her eyes.

"'Oh hey, come to this abandoned neighborhood often?'" Piper said sarcastically.

"You love him," Leo said, mock serious.

"You're insufferable."

"Let's go see what they're here for," Leo said heading towards the door.

"Leo, wait," Piper said. She dug through her backpack, changing into a t shirt that didn't have cherry Coke all over it. Leo smirked.

"You love him," He repeated. Piper shoved him into the doorjamb on the way downstairs.


	4. Change

The farther they got south, the more unseasonably warm the weather became, baking them as they walked along the old highway surrounded by trees and fallen corpses along the road. Clearly, someone had already been through this path. Annabeth, despite the heat, kept on the oversized blue flannel she had been wearing since Camp. Luke had a feeling that he knew where it came from. He tried to push down the jealousy that bubbled up in his throat.

 _"She didn't even try to look for you,"_ The echoy voice inside his head crooned. _"She's gone to the ends of the earth for the Son of Poseidon. Did she even notice you'd left?"_

"Shut up," Luke muttered to himself.

"You alright, man?" Grover asked from ahead of him. Luke forced a smile. He wasn't sure that it was convincing, but the satyr took it regardless, turning back to whisper something to Annabeth.

Luke scolded himself for letting the voice get to him. Grover was already suspicious of him. Luke had thought Annabeth was coming around but she had been near silent since the di Angelo kid had come back with word of where Percy might be.

"Tell me again how this is going to be any different than the last time we searched LA?" Luke asked Nico in a hushed tone so Annabeth wouldn't hear.

"He wasn't there before," Will answered for Nico. Luke could tell Nico didn't like him very much, as he had come to camp after it was widely known about Luke's betrayal, but Will had been at camp longer, he knew Luke before. Luke remembered Will's first week, before he had been claimed and he had to stay in Cabin 11. Even though the overcrowded cabin and neglected kids were what pushed Luke to Kronos' side in the first place, he had to admit he missed playing big brother to all the kids who came through his cabin.

"Where was he then?" Luke asked. "He's just been hiding for the past three months? Leave us to deal with this shit?"

"Percy wouldn't hide," Nico defended. He spoke in a hushed tone as well. Clearly he didn't want to upset Annabeth either.

"Then where was he?"

"After we got split up, I don't know for sure," Nico said. "All the spirits said was he'd been the same place the whole time, in this hospital."

"Annabeth checked every hospital," Luke said. "And why can they find him now? He wasn't in LA but he was in the same place the whole time, in LA? How does that make any sense?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you, Traitor."

"I'm just saying, it seems pretty stupid to think Jackson would be exactly where we left him," Luke said, anger bubbling up in him. "He'd be dead already if he was."

"No, he's not," Annabeth said. Luke didn't realize how loud he had been talking.

"Annabeth-," He started, but Annabeth turned on him, getting dangerously close to him with her severe dagger, the one he had given her nearly a decade ago.

"I know you don't care about what happens to him, but we all do," Annabeth said fiercely. "That's why we're here." Luke thought she might slice him open, but instead she just turned sharply, moving forward with even more determination.

Annabeth had never spoken to Luke about Percy. Not since Luke was still at camp. He wasn't sure if it was because it was too painful for her with Percy being missing or because she didn't think Luke was worthy. But he knew the two had gotten close. He had overheard his younger brothers talking about placing bets on when Percy would finally kiss her. Luke had always thought of Annabeth as a little sister, but she'd grown up a lot since he left camp. The thought of her being with Percy just made Luke angry. She was too good, too smart for that pond scum.

"Oh no," Grover said, readying his wooden club.

"What is it?" Will asked, following suit with his hammer.

"Dead," Grover said, his voice shaking. Grover was still a relatively new protector. Though he was much braver and more bold since he had escorted Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth to Camp Halfblood, he was still terrified at the thought of fighting anything, but especially the walkers.

"How many?" Annabeth asked.

"At least twenty, probably more," Nico said, swallowing hard. He didn't have a satyr's sense of smell, but souls were the son of Hades' specialty. They had figured out that he couldn't control them, but he could certainly sense them.

"That would've been helpful earlier," Luke muttered. Nico glared at him.

"Maybe it's not what we think it is," Will said, holding his weapon close nonetheless. "There's bodies all over, it reeks of corpses."

"No, it's coming closer," Grover said. "I couldn't smell them before. There's so many bodies."

"We have to get out of the open, into the woods," Luke said. He raised his sword, Back Biter. Because they were technically mortals, the walkers weren't harmed by celestial bronze. The demigods had learned that the hard way.

"We can't," Annabeth said, already posed for a fight, pulling out her silver knife from its holster on her thigh. "We can't risk getting separated."

Luke couldn't stand not being in charge. He was the oldest if you weren't counting satyr years, he had the most experience. He didn't want to admit he was wrong when the dead started pouring out from behind the trees, exactly where he had wanted the group to go. It was much more than twenty. They weren't anywhere near a city, this many walkers didn't even make sense this far out. They didn't have much time to think about how the walkers got there, just that they needed to defend themselves.

"Duck, Solace!" Nico yelled, whacking one straight in the head with his nail spiked bat just as it reached out to grab the Sun God's son. They may have been outnumbered by at least ten to one but the walkers were clumsy and awkward; it was easy to take them, but if you got distracted and let them over take you, you were done for.

Luke sliced a head off with ease, pulling his sword through one and chopping down the next. Even if Luke had just been arguing with him, Nico had his back, relieving a few more dead of their heads. Annabeth had always been skilled with a knife, but coupled with the shield Percy's cyclops brother had made her before they left, she was down right unstoppable. Grover, to his credit, took out a few dead himself with his wooden club.

They were only down to a few more. With years of training under their belt, walkers were no big deal for the demigods, it was mostly avoiding the bites. Ambrosia and nectar could heal just about anything, but not walker bites.

Annabeth didn't follow her own advice, edging closer to the woods, tussling with a particularly fresh and feisty walker, as the boys fought the dead up on the road. Will clocked the last one on the road with his hammer just as Annabeth shoved her knife through hers.

They all took a moment to catch their breath, Annabeth working to pry her knife from the walkers eye where she'd embedded it.

"Are you alright, Annabeth?" Grover asked, drinking from the canteen and passing it to Nico.

"Fine," She said, still working on her knife. She must have hit harder than she had expected to. She barely had time to react when three more walkers came out of the trees only a few feet behind her. She managed to pull her knife out in time to hit one of them but she had dropped her shield.

Nico was the first to rush down, Luke following close behind. Three on three was easy enough, but one more appeared behind Annabeth, who was too busy with her walker to notice as it opened its mouth to take a bite from her head.

Luke pushed Annabeth out of the way, taking the walker. Its teeth sunk into his raised forearm and he cried out in pain. It was nothing compared to the dragon but he knew what came after a bite from the dead.

"Luke!" Annabeth yelled. She took Back Biter from him and finished off the walkers with Nico as Luke sunk to the ground, holding his arm to his chest. Will and Grover ran down to help pull Luke back up to the road, laying him on the black top. Nico and Annabeth followed closely behind.

"How could it bite you?" Nico asked as Will tied off his arm.

"It opened its mouth and it fucking bit me, how do you think, di Angelo?" Luke snapped.

"But the Curse of Achilles," Nico said, wide eyed. Luke stared at him, despite the pain.

"How do you know about that?" Luke asked.

"It's how you hosted Kronos."

"Yeah, well, it left when Kronos left," Luke explained. He had found that out when he was stranded in the middle of the city after the Titan disappeared and Luke had sliced his hand open trying to stand on his own for the first time in a year.

"He's really gone," Annabeth said, her eyes fixed on Luke's bite. "Luke, you saved my life."

"Don't mention it," Luke winced as Will poked at his wound. "What are you doing?"

"I think," Will said, searching his bag for a moment and pulling out what Luke could guess was a suturing kit. "I think I can save you."

"What are you doing with that?" Luke asked, his voice shaking. Will took Back Biter from Annabeth, wiping it down with something from his med bag.

"Chiron and I had a theory, that if you block the bite before it spreads, you can save the victim," Will said. "We haven't been able to try it out, but it's now or never."

"Great, I'd love to be your lab rat on this abandoned road in the middle of nowhere," Luke said sarcastically. "How are you going to block the bite?"

"This is going to hurt," Will said apologetically, raising up Back Biter.

Luke was surprised his cry of pain as Will brought down the sword didn't bring another hoard of walkers.


	5. Copies

Making a mental checklist of what made her alive was now a habit for Hazel. If it got too quiet, she thought more about her breathing than she ever had in her first life. She put her hand over her heart and counted the beats in her chest. She was still waiting for the moment she would turn to one of her new friends and take a bite from their flesh like she had seen so many of the dead-turned-live do.

She hadn't told anyone where she had come from, not even Frank, who she was closer with than anyone. Well, anyone who was alive today. As far as the others knew, Hazel had wandered into New Rome just in time for the dead to rise. What she was hiding, though, was that she was one of them.

"You want some?" Frank asked, holding a pastry out to her. Hazel took one from him, taking a bite.

"People eat these for breakfast?" Hazel asked, looking at the box as she chewed. Everything about the future confused her, but she hid it well, saying she had come from a very sheltered home as an excuse for the gaps in her current event and pop culture knowledge. Luckily, everyone else was too focused on surviving to wonder why she didn't get their references. She still wasn't sure what year exactly this was, but she knew it had been at least a few decades that she had been gone.

"You've never had a Pop Tart?" Frank laughed. Hazel guessed these were common.

"Nope," Hazel said, trying to play it off. "Better than oatmeal, I suppose."

Reyna came back into the house from the backyard, holding her stack of firewood. They had already prepared the house for the night, but Reyna was never one to just sit around; she had to have a job to do.

"Jason isn't back yet?" Reyna asked, her eyebrows furrowing in worry.

"He said to give them an hour before we locked up," Frank said, checking his watch.

"I should have gone with him," Reyna said, looking out the window, through the cracks in the boards that they had just put up. "It's going to be dark soon."

"Percy is with him, he'll be okay," Hazel said, making Reyna roll her eyes. "What?"

"I don't like that kid," Reyna said plainly. Reyna was nothing if not straight forward.

"Hey, any dude who saves me from being walker chow is just fine," Frank said. Percy had only been with them for a few days but Hazel could easily say she would trust him with her life; he had the air of a leader but the kind smile of someone she could count on. Plus, he had pulled her out of a tight spot with some dead who just about had her the day before.

"I know him from somewhere," Reyna said, her arms crossed as she looked out the window. "I just can't remember where."

"You know, I thought that too," Frank said, tapping his nose like he was thinking hard on it. "I think he was on TV or something."

"And what about this Greek nonsense?" Reyna asked, her body posed for defense. "And this whole other camp we had no idea existed? How could that be?"

"It seems like he's on our side, Preator," Frank said. Though New Rome had fallen, Frank still referred to Reyna as his superior. Hazel knew it was because she greatly intimidated him. Hazel couldn't blame him; Reyna was very intense. Reyna was very strong, but fair as well and Hazel felt safe with her.

"They're back," Renya softened slightly, but only for a moment before she tensed again. "They have people."

"They do?" Octavian asked. Hazel was sure he had been asleep, but you could never be sure what Octavian was up to. He peered out the window with Reyna.

"What is Jason thinking?" Reyna asked as they heard the knock on the door. Three taps on top, two on bottom, that they had established so they would be able to tell it was one of them.

Frank unbolted the door, letting them inside. Jason and Percy came in first, followed by a gorgeous girl with tan skin and choppy hair, then by another boy with crazy black curls and elfish ears.

Hazel's heart stopped beating and she had to run through her checklist to make sure she hadn't died again. She knew the boy, but not from this life. She knew him when she was alive the first time.

"Sammy?" Hazel said, her voice shaking. The boy smirked at her, that familiar grin that had earned him a spot in the corner of the classroom with a dunce cap more often than not. She vaguely registered Frank staring at her with concern. How was he alive? How could he be only a couple years older than when she had last seen him, in 1942.

"Not the last time I checked," the boy said. "But you can call me whatever you'd like." Frank stood defensively, which the boy seemed to ignore.

"Don't be gross, Leo, we just got here," the girl said.

"Right, be gross later," Sammy/Leo said.

Everyone in the room looked intently at Hazel. "Are you alright?" Frank asked quietly. She had managed this far without arousing suspicion, she silently reminded herself to hold it together.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Hazel said, brushing him off. "Where did you find them?"

"We were set up in a house on the next street over, we've only been in California for a couple weeks," the girl said. "I'm Piper and this is Leo."

"You've survived this long just the two of you?" Reyna asked, suspiciously eyeing the two newcomers.

"We've bounced around shelters and camps," Leo explained.

"Camp?" Percy asked. Jason elbowed him.

"They probably mean survivor camps, Percy, not everyone is half blood," He said. Percy had been sensitive to any information that could be connected to his friends back on the east coast, but Hazel doubted that these two kids would have any idea about his camp.

"Halfblood?" Piper asked. "As opposed to what? Muggles?"

"Nerd," Leo muttered, earning a glare from Piper. "For real though, are you wizards, is that what you're implying?"

"He didn't mean anything," Reyna said, giving Jason a look that obviously meant he needed to keep quiet around mortals.

"Where are you guys from?" Piper asked. She looked them all over, analyzing.

"Most of us are from a...school, near San Francisco," Jason covered. Piper and Leo exchanged a suspicious look but didn't stop his explanation. "We found Percy at a hospital in LA a few days ago."

"I'm from New York, I've been looking for my friends," Percy said. Hazel knew he was hoping that the new additions, no matter how unlikely, had somehow run into this Annabeth he had been talking about. He seemed very sure that she would be looking high and low for him as well, but neither Piper nor Leo suggested they knew anything about a New Yorker search party.

"As nice as this little meet and greet is," Reyna said, checking out the window once more. "It's sunset and we need to set up a watch."

"I'll do it," Leo volunteered, raising his hand. "I like to do my part."

"Not likely," Reyna said, her arms crossed. "We barely know you, you could be the one we need watch from."

Reyna's comment seemed to set Piper off more than Leo. She looked like she wanted to say something to the Praetor, but held her tongue.

"I'll stand watch with him," Hazel said.

"What?" Frank asked. Hazel could tell he was concerned about how intrigued she was by Leo.

"Are you sure, Hazel?" Reyna asked. Hazel appreciated Reyna's protectiveness, but she needed to talk to this boy alone. She needed to know why her past had come back to her.

"He seems harmless," Hazel said with an unaffected shrug.

Nonetheless, Reyna handed one of her knives to Hazel, shooting Leo a look that was very clearly a warning. Percy and Jason moved one of the couches in front of the door before leading everyone else upstairs. Hazel caught Leo giving Piper a suggestive look as she followed Jason, one which she ignored.

"She thinks he's a cutie pie," Leo informed Hazel as he sat down on the couch. "Is he with that angry one?"

Hazel laughed, sitting on the other end. "Reyna doesn't have time for boys."

"My kinda woman."

"Especially not ones who say stuff like that," Hazel said.

"Ooh, ouch, cold," He laughed. "You're Hazel, right? We didn't really get a good introduction before."

"Hazel Levesque, nice to formally meet you," She said, shaking his hand pseudo seriously.

"Leo Valdez, international man of humor, at your service, Miss Levesque." Hazel got the sinking feeling she knew why Leo looked so familiar.

"Your name is Leo Valdez?" She asked, reminding herself to breathe.

"Leonidas Valdez, technically. But like who the Hell is named Leonidas?" Leo said.

"I used to know a boy named Valdez," Hazel said, controlling her breath and hoping Leo didn't notice her not so covert operation.

"Sammy?" Leo asked. "That's what you called me earlier, right?"

"Yeah, Sammy."

"Small world," Leo said. "That was my grandpa's name. And his dad's name."

"Must be a common name then, huh?" Hazel said, her voice strained like a tightrope and she was walking across it with no net below her.

She hadn't given much thought to what happened to the boy she had cared so much for in her previous life; she hadn't had the time. The last time she had seen him was when he kissed her on her birthday, the birthday her mother dragged her to Alaska. Since she had come back, Hazel had more pressing matters on her mind. Now, though, the proof that Sammy had moved on and had a life, a family, was sitting right in front of her.

"Are you okay, Levesque?" Leo asked, finally picking up on her uneasiness. Fortunately for Hazel, Reyna chose that moment to come back down the stairs.

"It's not time for watch change yet, is it?" Leo asked. "It's been like five minutes."

"I made the executive decision to relieve you of your post early," Reyna said with authority.

" _Bien, iré, chica_ ," Leo said, hands up.

"Don't try and bond with me."


	6. Acceptance

_The shadow travel trip was so much easier when Mrs. O'Leary was the one doing all the work. The only downside was traveling all the way to the west coast drained her completely so while Nico and Percy were on their dangerous mission, the big hellhound took a well deserved nap._

 _Nico had spent the last year planning this. He had done all the research and snooping so all Kelp Head had to do was follow him, but as much as he wanted to pretend he wasn't, Nico was worried about Percy. That wasn't new though, Nico was always worried about Percy but didn't want to admit it._

" _So this is it then, huh?" Percy said, his arms crossed confidently but his eyes betraying how frightened he really was. Percy knew what he had to do and he knew how risky it really was. But ever the noble hero, he was ready and willing to do it anyways._

" _You ready, Jackson?" Nico asked. Nico wished he could do this for Percy, that the son of Poseidon wouldn't have to do it all on his own. Percy was the "Leader", the one everyone depended on. If Nico didn't make it out, the only one who would miss him is Mrs. O'Leary. Nico hoped that Percy would talk about him the way he talked about Charles Beckendwarf, lauding him a hero, noting how tragic and brave his sacrifice had been._

 _Even so, it had to be Percy._

" _I wish I could've seen Annabeth before I left," Percy said to his beat up sneakers. He realized he said it out loud and turned red. "I just….I wasn't very nice to her when we talked earlier."_

" _You'll see her again soon." Nico felt a twist in his stomach, a familiar feeling of envy setting in. He couldn't really blame Percy anyways; Annabeth was seriously beautiful and smart. It wasn't a secret that Percy had a crush on her, even if he didn't exactly realize it himself._

" _I mean, she's my best friend, you know?" Percy said, rubbing his hand on his neck. "I'm worried if that's the last thing I say to her-,"_

" _Shut up, dude, you'll see her again, don't be a drama queen."_

" _If you say so," Percy said, giving him a sad sort of smirk._

" _Now are you ready or-,"_

 _Nico felt like the blood had stopped in his veins. The air stood still around him, but Percy didn't seem to notice the shift. "Nico, what's up, man? Are you alright?"_

 _Nico had never felt this before. It was much like the feeling he got when he raised the dead, but duller, as if he was moving underwater, everything fuzzy and muted._

" _Nico what's going on?" Percy asked. Chaos broke out around them. The normal hustle and bustle of Los Angeles was replaced by blood curdling screams as if the gates of Hades had burst open before the demigods even had the chance to break in._

 _Before Nico could say he had no idea what was happening, a group of finely dresses corpses came staggering towards them, at least slightly answering Percy's question for him._

" _What in Hades?" Percy asked, drawing Riptide from his pocket. "Did you summon these stiffs?"_

" _Yeah I figured it wasn't a super sneaky suicide mission without a hoard of the undead bringing up the caboose," Nico said, sarcastic despite their situation. "Of course I didn't summon them."_

" _Well they're here for something," Percy said. He brought his sword down on one as it reached them. Riptide's blade did nothing, it went through as if it was made of fog._

 _Nico grabbed his own sword, running towards the group of undead. Just like Riptide, his stygian iron blade whispered through the corpse._

" _Why isn't it working?" Nico yelled, looking for something else to use against them._

" _They've got to be mortal!" Percy said, grabbing Nico's arm and pulling him into the alleyway next to DOA Records. They were faster than the dead, but they were gaining in numbers. He tossed Nico a trash can lid and grabbed up a loose brick from under a dumpster, crashed it down on the head of the nearest body. It worked a lot better than the phantom swords, the body dropped down, tripping the one behind it before Percy stomped his foot hard against its head. The sound of squelching brains under a smashed skull turned Nico's stomach._

" _How can they be mortal?" Nico yelled back._

" _You got any other explanation, dude?" Percy asked._

 _Nico had never been so happy to see a broken pipe, the sharp metal sticking out from the dumpster. He drove the edge into the nearest zombie's forehead, dropping it almost instantly._

 _Percy smacked his brick into another one. That kid was trained with a sword but like a true New Yorker he worked with was given; he was dropping corpses left and right._

" _Maybe I can control them," Nico said. "They may be mortal but they're still dead." Nico took out the three closest to him, backing up further into the alley as Percy fought outward._

" _Nico, no!" Percy said, fear tingeing his normally strong voice. "There's too many."_

 _Nico ignored him, he had to do something. He raised his hand, trying to command all of his power. He felt the familiar tug at his stomach. One of the bodies jerked backwards slightly as if on a puppeteer's string, but recovered and kept creeping forward. Nico concentrated harder, focusing all of his energy. He could feel blood drip from his nose as a sharp, blinding pain radiated from his head._

 _Nico felt Percy before he heard him call out. Percy had pushed him to the ground just as a corpse snapped its jaws right where Nico's neck had been. Percy had saved him, but now he'd been thrown off course, the dead were too close for him to get a good swing with his brick. He picked up Nico's pipe and got a few shots but Nico couldn't help, the pain over taking him, leaving him useless on the ground, curled into himself as Percy stood over him._

" _Nico! Nico, are you okay?" Percy yelled as he smashed a zombie's head into the wall behind him. "Nico!"_

Nico bolted up right on the couch, drenched in a cold sweat. Percy's voice rang through his head. He couldn't sleep anymore without hearing Percy call his name, asking if he was alright. That big, dumb hero, caring about Nico even when he was the one who had gotten them cornered. Nico buried his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes until he saw stars.

"You gotta sleep," Annabeth said. Nico hadn't even heard her walk into the living room. The others were asleep upstairs, but she had been on watch in the garage as it had the best view point of the highway.

"You're one to talk, Chase," Nico said, pushing his hair back from his sweaty forehead. "This is your, what, fourth watch in a row?"

"I didn't ask for sass," Annabeth said, dropping onto the couch next to him. "You okay?" She asked.

Nico knew Annabeth meant well. As long as he had known her she had been the Mother Hen, the clear headed planner to Percy's rash decision making. She had always reminded him of his sister, they even looked at him with the same caring eyes that seemed to read his mind. That was why he avoided her. Or at least part of why.

"I'm fine," Nico assured. "Just some good ol' fashioned insomnia."

"It's hard to let your guard down now, I know," Annabeth said. She looked at the pale blue walls instead of him. Nico didn't mind, as long as she wasn't giving him her telepathic stare. He was never what one would call a fan of eye contact anyways.

"Never really was easy in the first place," Nico offered.

"What did you dream about?" Annabeth asked.

"Who said I was dreaming?"

"We're demigods, it's what we do best."

"Wasn't one of those kinds of dreams," Nico said. "I haven't had one of those in a while."

"Me neither," Annabeth said. "Never thought I'd miss it, but here we are. My mom could send me a blurry photo of her flipping me off and I'd be happy at this point."

Nico laughed despite himself. "I know what you mean."

"So what kind of dream was it?" Annabeth pressed.

"One I've had for a while now," Nico said. "Not really a dream, or a nightmare really. Just...a memory."

"About Percy?" Annabeth asked. Nico felt like he had been plunged into a deep freezer. This was the other reason he avoided Annabeth. Well, another reason.

"Yeah," He said after a long pause, deciding the truth was the best answer he could give. Annabeth deserved as much.

"The last time I talked to him," Annabeth said, still staring forward at the wall as if it would suddenly produce all the answers she needed. "I yelled at him."

"He told me," Nico said. "Not that you yelled at him, but that you guys had a fight."

Annabeth laughed incredulously. "He did?"

"It was the last thing we talked about, actually," Nico admitted. "He was worried that would be the last thing he could say to you."

Annabeth smiled sadly. "You didn't tell me that before."

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," Nico said, his voice tight.

"It's okay, Nico," Annabeth sad, grabbing Nico's hand. Nico pulled away as if she had burned him.

"It's not," Nico said. He felt something in him snap. He couldn't listen to Annabeth blame herself. "Annabeth, I could've gotten him killed."

"Nico-,"

"No," He said. He felt his chest get tight, but he needed to tell her. "I messed up and Percy saved me. That's why I'm here and he isn't. Percy should be here with you, fixing this whole mess but he's lost because of me. I dragged him to LA, I tried to control the walkers, I made myself weak and Percy had to protect me. I'm so sorry."

Annabeth pulled Nico to her, hugging him tightly and letting him soak the front of her shirt, Percy's shirt, with the dam of tears that had finally broken. Nico couldn't remember the last time he had let himself cry in front of someone. Annabeth just held him for a long silence.

"This isn't your fault," Annabeth said finally, petting his hair softly. "I don't blame you and neither would Percy. When we find him, he's going to tell you that himself."

"I took him away from camp, they needed him," Nico said into her chest, like a small child being comforted by his mother. "We need him."

"I know how you feel," Annabeth said, pulling Nico back and wiping his face with her shirt sleeve. "He's the biggest jackass I've ever met, but we need him."

"You miss him," Nico said, feeling more calm now.

"You do too," Annabeth said. Nico felt that tightness return again. Maybe he had said too much. "It's okay. Seaweed Brain gets to you, I understand. He has that way about him. I know better than anyone how you feel."

"Annabeth-,"

"I don't want to admit it either," Annabeth said, squeezing Nico's hand. "So we don't have to, not until we're ready."

Nico gave her a grateful nod. The main reason he avoided Annabeth was that they had a lot in common.


	7. Bonds

The Romans weren't much different from the Greeks from what Percy could tell. They were a little more organized and clearly followed the orders of their leaders rigidly. The Stoll Brothers would've had a hard time. Percy still didn't understand how or why the Gods had kept their other sides a secret from their children but then again, Percy very rarely understood a single thing they did.

Reyna walked slightly ahead of the group, weaving them through cars that were packed on the highway while Percy hung back, bringing up the rear. Percy was used to being the one in charge but he didn't mind just following. He still had to think of what he was going to do next. It wasn't safe to try and cross the country all on his own, even if there weren't a bunch of dead bodies trying to attack them. But he knew he had to get back to Camp, to his mom and his friends and Annabeth.

Jason slowed his pace until Percy caught up to him. He had warmed up to Percy a lot faster than Reyna had. After a week and a half of him fighting walkers alongside her, she still didn't fully trust Percy. He couldn't really blame her though, if this was his group he would be wary too. Jason and Percy had a lot in common, though. Jason was a Big Three Kid too, a son of Jupiter. Which Percy might have been able to guess on his own; Jason reminded him a lot of Thalia, the only other Zeus kid he knew. He had found out the Roman Gods had no oath banning children of the big three. Despite this, Percy was the first son of Poseidon/Neptune that the Romans had met.

"I thought New Yorkers were supposed to be fast?" Jason asked. "You're always in the back."

"I can see everybody from here, I can watch their backs," Percy said. "Besides, I thought Cali Kids were supposed to be laid back, I've never seen someone so tightly wound," he nodded at Reyna.

"Ayyy, she's just watchin' yous," Jason said in a terrible accent, adding finger guns for good measure.

"Is that supposed to be a New York accent?"

"Yeah, bada bing."

"Literally no New Yorker ever has said that."

"Eh I've watched Friends, I know all about New York," Jason said waving him off. "Reyna will warm up to you soon enough, don't worry."

"She can be warm?" Percy asked.

"So we're told," Jason said. He looked straight ahead for a moment before looking down, his face pink. Percy looked up in time to see Piper turn away.

"Real smooth, dude," Percy laughed.

"What?" Jason said, ruffling his hair.

"Super neat trick I learned on the mean streets of Manhattan," Percy said. "If you want to talk to a pretty girl, it usually helps if you say words."

"I've talked to Piper," Jason said quietly so she wouldn't overhear them.

"Yeah, I bet asking her if she wanted more bread at dinner really got her going," Percy laughed.

"Well what did you say when you first started talking to Annabeth?"

"What's Annabeth got to do with anything?" Percy asked, taken aback.

"She's your girlfriend right? How'd you ask her out?"

"What? Why would you think she was my girlfriend?"

"We all thought she was your girlfriend. You really only talk about her," Jason explained. "'Oh Annabeth is gonna be so worried. I've gotta find Annabeth.' You literally described her as gorgeous, dude."

"That doesn't mean anything, that doesn't mean I like her," Percy defended. "That just means I have eyes. That's just...a statement of fact. That's how I'd describe you too if you were missing, does that make you my boyfriend?"

"Well if you keep calling me gorgeous, big boy," Jason winked.

Percy shoved his shoulder, rolling his eyes, but his laugh was cut short when he caught Hazel turning away from him again. He had thought she had liked him just fine. She had even shared some candy she had finessed out of a machine in a mall with him the night before, but after that morning, she wouldn't even make eye contact with him.

"Did I do something?" Percy asked Jason, still looking at the back of Hazel's head.

"I can't be sure with her, she's nice, but she's kind of different," Jason said. "I don't know all that much about her."

"You said you were at your camp your whole life."

"Yeah, I was," Jason said. "She wasn't. She showed up about two days before our city got attacked. She doesn't even know who her godly parent is, they all went silent before anyone could claim her."

"No one's heard from them at all, then?" Percy asked. They hadn't had time to talk gods since Leo and Piper had joined them. Though they had proved trustworthy, no one had the heart to drop the Myths Are Real bomb on top of the zombie news on the mortals.

"Besides claiming, how often do you really hear from our folks?" Jason shrugged.

"I mean, all the times they give us bullshit quests?" Percy offered.

"Wait, you actually talk to the gods?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, you don't?" Percy said.

"I've never even met my dad," Jason said.

"Yeah, well, your stepmom sucks so maybe consider yourself lucky," Percy said. He turned his attention away from Jason, seeing Hazel drop back from her place next to Piper. She let Percy and Jason catch up with her. Percy looked to Jason, who merely shrugged.

"Hey, Percy," She said, her voice strangely light and cheerful.

"Uh, hey, Hazel," Percy said.

Jason made a lame excuse to run forward to leave them alone. Clearly, he wasn't good at awkward situations.

"You're talking to me again?" Neither was Percy.

Hazel smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry about that, I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings."

Percy shared her smile. "As long as you're good."

"I'm fine," Hazel waved him off. "I just uh, wanted to ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You said Annabeth has probably been looking for you, right?"

"She usually does when I go missing," Percy laughed. "Which is why I know she's gonna be mad when she finds me."

"Right, when she finds you," Hazel said, looking down. "You said she's blonde?"

Percy raised his eyebrow at Hazel. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious, you talk about her a lot," Hazel said.

"What, do you think she's my girlfriend, too?" Percy laughed.

"Is she not?" Hazel asked, innocently.

"She's not-," Percy sighed, not seeing the point in explaining the ins and outs of his and Annabeth's friendship to this group. "Yeah, she's blonde. And she has grey eyes, like all the other Athena kids. Here," Percy dug in his pocket for his wallet, right next to Riptide. It wasn't like they needed money any more or that he had any to begin with, but it was like a token of the old way of the world. He pulled out the little photostrip he, Grover, and Annabeth had taken when they went to Coney Island that last Spring break. "That's her."

Hazel went very pale but forced a smile. "She's so pretty." She said, her voice now shaky. "I uh, have to go." Percy was left alone once again in the back.


	8. New Friends

The group had come into some luck in Oregon, finding an old mechanic's garage with a working van. After Annabeth and Will siphoned gas from some of the rundown vehicles on the highway, they were able to travel much faster. In a few days time, they had reached northern California. They couldn't drive at night, so even though Annabeth knew how close they were to Los Angeles, she also knew she couldn't just power through and drive the eight hours. For now, they hunkered down in an abandoned grocery store.

"The canned goods are gone," Nico said, coming up to Annabeth. She sat on top of the front desk where she could survey the aisles from the cameras. "But the kitchen in the deli still works, and there's a bunch of dry pasta no one bothered to take. I can make some once we get set up."

"Thanks," Annabeth said, hopping down from the counter, putting her at eye level with Nico. He had grown almost taller than her in the past year, something Percy had made fun of her for. "The place looks clear. We shouldn't have any problems. Will said there's some old couches in the employee break room. It's in the back by an emergency exit."

"Perfect," Nico said. He had been in, what was for Nico, a good mood. He had found an old motorcycle in the mechanic's shop and because Annabeth had all but outright banned shadow travel for him since his entrance at the house in Idaho, he insisted on having it. She had thought that their conversation a few nights before would have made him distant, but instead it brought them closer than she had ever hoped to be with Nico.

"Have you heard anymore about him?" Annabeth asked. Nico nodded, leaning over to check the cameras. Annabeth knew he was looking for Luke on the screens. Nico didn't trust him farther than he could throw him and he didn't like to share any information with Luke. Annabeth couldn't really blame him. "He's in the back with Will," she assured.

"The communication is weird," Nico explained. "Normally the spirits just talk directly to me when I summon them. This one just kind of...shows up in my brain. Like I'm seeing Percy as he is right now."

"It's just one spirit?" Annabeth asked. "Could it be a trick like with Midas?"

"It could be," Nico shrugged. "But I don't think it is. I know it sounds weird, but I trust it."

"If you do, I do," Annabeth nodded. "What else has it shown you?"

"I know he's still alive," Nico said. "I see flashes of him, but I know they aren't my memories."

"Is he still in that hospital?" Annabeth asked. Nico shrugged.

"As far as I know," He said. "But I know for sure he's alive."

Annabeth put her hand on Nico's arm, giving it a small squeeze. "I know he is too," She said. "I'm going to go set up camp in the back, go start dinner.."

"Yes, ma'am," Nico said with a hint of a grin.

Annabeth walked down the aisle towards the back of the store, passing the near empty shelves. Will had his med kit open on the pharmacy counter, putting his tools away as Luke rolled his shoulder, examining his freshly bandaged elbow.

"The other one was starting to smell," Will said, closing up his bag. "This place has some good antibiotics, I was starting to worry about the discoloration."

"I'm so surprised my backwoods amputation with a sword got botched," Luke said, rubbing his arm above the bandage.

"He's a kid with advanced first aid training at best," Annabeth said, arms crossed. "Say thank you and enjoy the fact that you aren't a brain eating corpse." Luke mumbled a quiet 'thanks'. If this were any other time, Annabeth would have laughed at Luke taking orders from her like a scolded child. "Nico's making pasta in the deli, why don't you go help him, Will?"

Will didn't need to be told twice. He pulled the bag on over his shoulder and walked up the aisle Annabeth had just come from. "How's it feel?" Annabeth asked.

Luke laughed humorlessly. "Like I got my arm chopped off," He said, now attempting to put his sling on with his one hand.

"Like I said," Annabeth said. "You're lucky we didn't leave you for the biters."

"Sorry I saved your ass, Chase, I'll think twice next time."

Annabeth sighed, uncrossing her arms. She hadn't even realized she had taken such a defensive stance. She leaned forward to help him slip the sling over his head. "Thank you for doing that."

"Well, that's a 180," Luke noted.

Annabeth sat down next to him, running her fingers through her hair. "I don't know what you want from me, Luke, this is hard."

"I know it is," Luke said, looking to the ground. "I do and I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" She asked.

"Everything, I guess," Luke shrugged. "I did a lot of shit I regret, but betraying you was the worst."

"You betrayed all of us, Luke," Annabeth said. "Not just me. Your brothers and sisters, Grover, Thalia, Percy-,"

"I barely knew Percy," Luke interjected. "He was a good kid but by the time I met him, everything was already in motion."

"He is a good kid," Annabeth corrected.

"What?"

"You said he was a good kid," Annabeth said, her voice getting tight. "He is a good kid. Present tense."

"Right, yeah," Luke said. "He is a good kid. And you're right, I did hurt everyone at camp. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. I can't, but I also can't make it better if you won't let me."

"Who says I'm not letting you?"

"You don't trust me with anything."

"Trust has to be earned, Luke," Annabeth said. "I trusted you for a long time and that bit me in the ass. I'm not going to do it again so easily. I forgive, that's why you're here right now and not dead at the edge of camp, but I won't forget. I could never forget."

"So I get my arm chopped off for you and that's not enough for you to give me a little bit of slack?"

"I'll be sure to find you a gold star to put on your stump," Annabeth said, getting up.

A loud crash at the front of the store ruined Annabeth's plan for a dramatic exit. She pulled her knife out from her thigh holster and Luke grabbed the hatchet he had been using in place of Backbiter and they rushed to the entrance.

Nico and Will already had their weapons drawn on a group of ten, but everyone held still. Annabeth saw the cart barricade that they had put up had been broken down and she assumed the group was the cause.

"What's your business here?" Annabeth asked, stepping forward with her knife extended.

A tall man with long red hair tied up in a bun stepped forward. He would have been handsome if not for his smarmy smile that sent shivers down Annabeth's spine. "Well hello, little lady," He said with a strong southern twang.

"Come any closer and I will slice you throat to stomach," Annabeth threatened. The man stepped back.

"No need for that, Miss," The man explained. "I'm Jim, we were just coming in here for our usual supplies, hadn't realized anyone had set up camp."

"Well, we did," Nico said, trying to be level with Annabeth but she stuck her arm out, blocking him.

"We got a set up not too far from here," Jim said. "Y'all are more than welcome to come stay there."

"We're fine here, thanks," Annabeth said. "We'll be out by sunup tomorrow morning."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss, there seems to be a misunderstanding," Jim said. His group behind him shuffled for a moment, producing a wall of guns, all pointed at each half blood. "We weren't asking."


	9. And Old

Standing guard was Frank's specialty. He was large and intimidating, until he spoke and he was revealed as the giant teddy bear he actually was. He held his bow at the ready at the mini mart's main door while Hazel loaded her backpack with food. Their larger group had split into pairs to scavenge and as usual, Hazel and Frank had partnered up immediately.

"Find anything good?" Frank asked. When Hazel didn't respond, he turned around, repeating his question.

"Huh?" She said, finally looking up from her bag. "Oh, no, just the regular jerky and canned beans."

"Not too bad, I guess," Frank asked. "Are you alright?"

"What? Yeah," She said, pulling her heavy bag onto her shoulders. Frank took it away from her and lifted it easily.

"Hazel," Frank said, nudging her shoulder with his elbow.

Hazel bit her lip, tightening her grip on her ax as they walked out the door. "Maybe not yeah," She admitted.

"Is it because of that guy Leo?" Frank asked. He had been too nervous to ask Hazel about it before, but it had been eating at him since Jason and Percy had brought the two mortals into their camp. He didn't like the jealous feeling that pitted in his stomach, that wasn't the person he was.

"Him? No," Hazel said. "Well, a little bit. I'm just….I know him from somewhere. Or I thought I did. I don't, it was just someone who looked like him."

"O...kay?" Frank said, not exactly following Hazel's erratic train of thought.

"You won't tell anyone else if I tell you something, right?" Hazel asked.

"Of course not."

Hazel took a deep breath, pausing in the middle of the empty road to look up at Frank straight in the eye. "I lied when I told you all I didn't know who my godly parent was. I met him a long time ago."

"What?" Frank asked. He told Hazel everything during their short friendship, about his mother dying in the war, his life line firewood that remained heavy in his pocket, and yet she had hidden something so big from him. "You lied? Why?"

"I didn't want you to think I had anything to do with what was going on right now. Especially because," She paused, like she wanted to say something but thought better of it. "Because I came into New Rome the day before all the dead started to rise."

"Why would we think that?"

"Because my father is Pluto, Lord of the Dead."

"Hazel, you know we would never blame you for this," Frank said, gripping her arm gently. "I won't tell anyone, but you should know that."

"I know that now," Hazel said. "But that's not it."

"What else?" He asked.

"I see dead people," Hazel said. "I mean. Not the walking dead people we see everyday. But like visions of dead people. Spirits, I think."

"How do you know they're dead?" Frank asked.

"Because I saw...I saw Percy's girlfriend." Frank dropped his grip on her arm. All of them knew that Percy's search was fruitless. If his Annabeth had really been looking for him the past few months, she would've easily found him in his hospital bed. They all shared looks when he would mention her, but not even Reyna could tell him what they all knew.

"Did you see anyone else?" Frank asked.

"This morning at breakfast," Hazel said. "Just an image, like a flash. It was a woman, she had brown eyes and dark hair. She was beautiful, but I have no idea who she was."

"I don't either," Frank said. "Do you think it could still be connected to Percy?"

Hazel shrugged and started moving again. "I don't want to ask him. I don't know how," she said. Frank could already see the others up ahead at the intersection and he knew their conversation would be over.

"Let me know if-," Frank was cut off by a silver arrow whizzing past his ear. He ducked just in time, pulling Hazel down to the ground with him. "What in the hell?"

The others noticed the commotion, running towards them. "Where did that come from?" Leo asked, pulling his backpack up over his head to protect himself from further attack.

Frank looked up at the building next to them, a tall apartment building with the majority of the windows broken out. "I think up there," He said, pointing it out just as a stream of fire shot out above them.

"You think?" Percy asked, sarcasm biting his tone. He reached down, grabbing the now broken arrow from the pavement. "No way," he said, mostly to himself as he examined it.

"What is it?" Reyna asked.

"An arrow," Leo answered, earning him an elbow in the chest from Piper. All seven turned to look up at the building as a cry of pain rang out.

"We have to get up there," Percy said, moving towards the apartment, but Reyna grabbed his arm.

"Don't be stupid, Jackson," She said. "You don't know who's up there, what's up there."

"It breathes fire, kinda narrows it down," Percy said, pulling his arm away from her grasp. He looked down at her with more authority than Frank had ever seen a kid hold. "And it doesn't matter who's up there, they need help."

"You'll get yourself killed," Piper said, but Percy was already running.

"That's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it," Percy called back as he disappeared into the alley.

"He can't go by himself," Jason said.

"Two idiots is better than one," Leo said with a shrug. He took off after Percy, despite Piper yelling his name. She readied her bat, running into the alley as well. Jason cursed under his breath, following Piper and the other boys.

"You have to be kidding me," Reyna shouted.

"Sorry, Praetor," Frank said as he took off next. With the amount of times Percy had saved them, Frank figured it was his turn to have his back. He knew Hazel would be right behind him, but he was surprised Reyna was not far after.

They climbed up the ladder to the fire escape, seeing Percy was already about halfway up the building. Another scream and a roar of fire jolted speed into the son of Poseidon and he was up and onto the roof in a matter of minutes. Frank watched the others do the same as he followed them up, a knot in his chest. His loyalty to the boy who saved him may have propelled him onto the fire escape, but he hadn't had much in the way of training and he knew it wouldn't be walkers up on the roof.

Frank heaved himself over, finding Percy and Jason already with their swords out. Frank couldn't find the source of the cries, but he was slightly distracted by the monster posed with its mouths opened at the fighters.

"What the hell is that?" Piper asked, her weapon limp at her side.

"You can see it?" Percy asked, dropping and rolling as the monster swiped for him.

"What? Of course I can see it!" Piper yelled.

"It's got three freaking heads!" Leo said. "Little hard to miss."

The monster, a huge beast with a head of a lion, a serpent, and a goat, charged at Jason next, narrowly missing him when Jason jumped back. Reyna drew her spear, running at the chimera. Frank searched his bag as Percy, Jason, and Reyna held off the beast. He finally found an imperial gold arrow at the bottom, forgotten since most the monsters they had faced lately had been mortals and unaffected by the magic. He nocked the arrow and aimed, finding a clear shot easily because of the sheer size. The arrow caught the lion in the eye, sending the beast reeling long enough for Reyna to stab it square in the chest, turning the creature to dust.

The group took a collective breath, their problem mostly gone. "What the hell was that?" Piper asked again.

"After the dead are walking around eating people, you're going to question something like that?" Reyna asked, maintaining her cover well.

"How'd you guys know how to kill it?" Leo asked.

"Who wouldn't that kill?" Reyna asked.

Piper wasn't quite buying it, but her next inquiry was interrupted by the roof entrance bursting open, another silver arrow launching out, followed by a cry of pain and "Get back!"

Everyone moved back, all except Percy, who approached the dark haired girl who shot at them. "Oh my gods," He said, happy despite the feral look in her eye and the next arrow loaded onto her bow and aimed at him.

"Percy?" the girl asked, lowering her bow slightly to look at him. She shook her head, holding her bow shakily at him again. "It can't be. You're a trick."

"It's not, it's me," Percy assured. "It's Kelp Head."

The girl laughed weakly, dropping her bow finally and falling to her knees. Percy ran to her, holding her up before she could crash completely. "She's hurt, bad," He said, showing them his hand, stained red after touching her bloodied t-shirt.

"Friend of yours?" Reyna asked.

"Yeah," Percy answered, laying her on the ground and searching his bag furiously. "Thalia, hunter of Artemis."


	10. Parts

Despite the assurance from Jim that his group was perfectly friendly, Annabeth had trouble believing it with a gun leveled at the back of her head. The contrast of the weapons and the " _Reading is FUNdemental_!" posters on the walls was almost comical. Annabeth had been in plenty of classrooms, but this was one of the nicer ones, probably a private school.

"You really need more mouths to feed?" Luke asked, staring straight ahead at the front of the classroom. Jim had spread the five of them out, each with their own guard so they had no chance of escape.

"Quiet," Jim said, the same time Annabeth did. The ginger haired man smirked down at her, making her skin crawl. "Figured you were the leader, girlie, you got that way about you," He said. Annabeth didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. She hadn't said a word since they had all been loaded into two different cars, jammed in between Jim's group with no way to even move, let alone make a plan. "You'll like Lily. She's got that way too. And let me tell you, never thought I'd be taking orders from a broad, so you know she's a good one."

Annabeth looked up at him, her gaze as sharp as the knife they had taken from her, enough that Jim's cocky grin faltered for the briefest moment. "Bite me," She said, ice coating her voice.

"Careful what you wish for, darling," Jim said, leaning closer to her, his sticky breath on her ear.

"Touch her and see what happens, asshole," Nico spat from the desk behind Annabeth.

Jim barked out a laugh, a chorus of chuckles sounded from the men around them. "What are you going to do, Marilyn Manson?" Jim asked.

"I won't have to do a damned thing," Nico said. "She'll have your corpse on the ground before you can even wet yourself."

"Disrespectful little-," Jim started, only to be interrupted by the classroom door swinging open. All the men, Jim included, stood at attention.

She looked impossibly clean for someone who lived in a school, her black hair swept up into a delicate bun and her brown eyes sharp and focused. With a pressed black pencil skirt and floral blouse, she looked more like a secretary than a leader of bandits. The only thing ruining her image was a severely sharp spear.

"You must be Lily," Annabeth said. The woman smiled, her teeth all brilliantly white.

"Oh, Annabeth, you know better than that," Lily said.

"How do you know my name?" She asked. The men holding the weapons to their heads murmured to one another. Lily silenced them with just a tap of her spear on the floor.

"Boys, you may go," Lily said. All of the men, besides Jim, moved from their positions, heading out the door.

"Ma'am, they're a feisty bunch," Jim said, his gun still trained on Annabeth.

"I can handle myself, thank you, Jim," Lily said. "I believe I gave you an order." Jim nodded furiously before scurrying out after his men.

"How do you know my name," Annabeth asked once again.

"You don't recognize me, girl?" Lily said, her hand over her heart in mock disappointment. "I must say, I'm surprised to see you as well. I was having such an excellent time without you infuriating half bloods running amuck."

Annabeth felt her jaw clench as the realization crossed her. "Hera," Annabeth said, but it came out as more of a growl.

"That's Lady Hera to you," Hera corrected.

"Of all the gods," Nico muttered.

"Where have you all been?" Will asked.

"I can't speak for anyone but myself," Hera said. "I have been taking a sabbatical from my duties of Queen of the Gods."

Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm surprised you trust Zeus enough to leave him alone."

Hera flinched slightly as if the name of her husband burned her. "If you must know, none of the gods are on Olympus."

"We had figured that out on our own, strangely enough," Nico said. "Ya know, with the apocalypse going on and all."

"We assumed it was your father behind it," Hera said with venom. "Until he went missing as well."

"Missing?" Luke asked. Hera turned on him, looking him up and down with disgust.

"I will ask you not to address me, traitor. I can smell my father on you," Hera said, turning Luke's face red. "But yes, missing. I haven't spoken to any of the other gods in months. They've disappeared. Even my dear husband."

"Who took them?" Annabeth asked. Hera's face twisted into a smug grin.

"I would think a daughter of Athena would have already figured this all out," She chided.

"I've been busy," Annabeth said.

"Oh yes, looking for my brother's boy, I suppose?" Hera said. "Bit pointless, isn't it?"

"It's not," Grover said, surprising even himself.

Hera laughed cruelly. "You think anyone capable of creating the monsters you see out there would be simple enough to let a child of Poseidon run around and ruin their plan? He's long gone."

"Percy is alive," Nico said, each word spoken with such force Annabeth could almost feel them hit her.

"I may not be on Olympus, but I am still a Goddess, boy," Hera said, Nico's open defiance starting to get to her. "We know a few things."

Annabeth knew Hera could very well just be taunting them, but her words reached the part of Annabeth that she didn't want to listen to. The part of her who thought logically. The little voice in her head that told her that three months completely alone in a world like this was too much to live through, even for someone as strong as Percy. That voice told her she wouldn't find Percy alive, if she found him at all. She beat that voice back, screaming that Percy was the one person who could survive. He always survived. But that voice was hard to ignore when it came from a seemingly all knowing goddess.

Luke looked from Hera to Annabeth and back again. "Have you seen him?"

Hera didn't look at him, keeping her eyes trained on Annabeth. "I don't need to see him dead to know it. Annabeth, your mother is the planner. You should know it's just good strategy to take out the strongest asset."

"Well, no one's seen a body, so he's not dead, simple as that," Luke said, startling a soft smile from Annabeth.

Hera scoffed. "Believe what you want, traitor," she said. "But you won't be finding much from here. I have a need for a few demigods."

"You just said we were infuriating," Nico said.

"And?" Hera said. "Doesn't mean you can't be useful at times. There's plenty of opportunities for quests in this dire time, and since I can't contact you all the traditional way, I'll just keep you here."

"You can't," Annabeth protested.

"Certainly I can, girl."

"We have to leave," Annabeth said. "Percy is out there-,"

"Didn't you hear me? Your obnoxious abomination is dead. I'm saving you time, really. You should be thanking me," Hera turned back towards the door, calling to her bandits.

Two women came in, one taller with a jagged pixie cut and severe eyes and the other was a small girl around Luke's age with long ginger hair tied into a ponytail.

"Celene, Quinn, please take our guests to their sleeping quarters," Hera said with a sticky sweet smile. "They'll be here a while, we must make sure they're comfortable."

 _The empty room around her was silent, amplifying the sound of the rain raging against the window. Annabeth knew she was in New York City; she could tell by all the lights outside, but she had never heard the city so quiet._

" _Back," The voice nearly startled her onto the floor. She turned, finding a dark haired man who hadn't been there before. He wore an old Hootie and the Blowfish t-shirt and ratty jeans._

" _Back where?" She asked._

" _Back," The man repeated, still staring at the rain as it pelted the window. "Back."_

" _Go back to camp?" Annabeth asked cautiously. The man shook his head furiously, finally fixing his brillant sea green eyes on her._

" _Back."_

" _Go back where?" Annabeth asked. "To Los Angeles? We're trying."_

" _Not you," The man said, reaching out his hand as if he were going to touch her face, but he dropped it to his side. He turned back to the window. "Him."_

" _Percy?" Annabeth said. "Hera said she knew he was dead."_

" _Lost," The man said, shaking his head again. "Back. Gone."_

" _Percy's gone?" Annabeth asked._

" _Gone. Lost. Back," the man said. "Come back."_

" _We'll find him, Lord Poseidon," She assured._

Annabeth shot awake, colliding with Nico's head above her. Like her dream, rain beat against the windows, but she was no longer in the empty room, she was back in the classroom that Hera's servants had left them in, the desks moved against the walls and gym mats placed on the floor as makeshift beds. Annabeth hadn't intended on sleeping, but she must have dozed off after a while. Judging by how dark it was outside, it had been quite a while.

"You good?" Luke asked from his place by the door. Annabeth nodded, holding her head.

"He's with Thalia," Nico whispered to her, with what Annabeth could almost describe as a smile on his face.

"What?" Annabeth asked. "We haven't seen Thalia since before this all started."

"I saw them," Nico said. "I saw Percy with Thalia. They're together."

"I had a dream," Annabeth told him.

"Your mom sent you that blurry photo after all?" Nico asked.

"No, Percy's dad," Annabeth said. "And no blurry photos. Just some toddler level speech."

"What did he say?"

"He just kept repeating the same words," Annabeth explained. "'Gone', 'lost', and 'back'."

"What in Hades does that mean?" Nico asked.

"I have no idea," Annabeth said. "But when I asked if we should go back to camp he said no. Poseidon must know we can find him."

"We will find him," Nico said confidently.

"Someone's coming," Luke announced, sitting up straighter in his chair. Hera's men had taken their weapons and locked them away, but that didn't stop the demigods from taking a defensive stance. The door opened slowly, the smaller girl who had forced them into the classroom earlier poking her head through. Annabeth stood up, facing the girl with her arms crossed.

"What's your head bitch want now," She asked.

"She wants nothing," Celene said. "I'm here to help. Unless you wanted to stay here?"

"And why would you want to do that?" Annabeth asked. "Aren't you our guard? Not very good guarding."

"We don't have much time, Quinn will be back soon," Celene said.

"We're not going anywhere with you," Grover said, sternly.

Celene sighed, annoyed. "My stepmother has nothing good planned for you, halfbloods. I may not be able to use my powers, but I can certainly unlock a door for you."

Annabeth dropped her arms, realizing that Hera wasn't the only goddess in disguise. "Artemis?"

"Like I said, not much time," Artemis said. "Come with me."

The demigods followed her out the door. She led them down the hallway, pausing every once in a while to peek around corners.

"Why are you hiding out with Hera?" Will asked. "I didn't think you guys got along."

"We don't, which is precisely why I'm hiding," Artemis said. She led them to an unguarded exit. She opened one of the lockers lining the hallway, pulling out a duffel bag and handed it over to Annabeth. "All your weapons are in there, plus the keys to the van on the end of the parking lot. The guard for this exit will be back from the bathroom soon, so you must hurry."

"Wait," Nico said, stopping Luke and Grover from running out the door. "Where's Thalia?"

Artemis stepped back as if Nico had slapped her. "Excuse me?"

"Thalia, your hunter," Nico said. "Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, we need to find her," Annabeth nodded. Artemis's face hardened as she looked to the ground.

"Thalia's gone," Artemis said.

"What?" Nico asked. "Gone where?"

"My powers draw attention," Artemis said. "She died protecting me because I was too weak to protect myself."

"That can't be," Annabeth said, feeling her heart sink. She had already lost Thalia once. "Nico saw her. She's with Percy."

"I assure you, Annabeth," Artemis said. "If this boy saw Percy with my Thalia, that cannot be a good thing."


	11. Pulled

"We're lucky we didn't go too far," Hazel said as Percy plopped the girl he had called Thalia onto an abandoned gurney by the nurse's station. The trek from the apartment building to the hospital they had found Percy at wasn't more than half an hour.

"I'm just glad you guys didn't filch all the supplies," Percy said, holding up the bandages and suturing kit Jason had found. "Anyone know how to sew?"

"I used to fix my own socks," Hazel volunteered. "But that's it."

Percy handed her the kit. "That'll have to do."

"You're kidding," Jason said. "None of us know how to stitch up a human person."

"You heard Hazel, she's fixed socks it's probably kinda the same," Percy said. "I'm sorry, but we have about zero other options unless you can find a doctor in the next few minutes."

Jason nodded, even though he knew this could only go poorly at best.

"Should we wait for the others to clear up the rest of the hospital?" Hazel asked.

"She's already lost a lot of blood," Percy said, using his knife to slice Thalia's shirt up the side. "We gotta do it now."

Jason helped him remove the battlefield bandage Reyna had patched her up with earlier while Hazel familiarized herself with the suture kit, looking very much like she wanted to vomit.

"She must have been out there by herself for so long," Percy said, looking over his friend with guilty eyes.

"Hey, man, you did what you could," Jason assured. "You didn't know where she was. You barely knew where you were until a couple weeks ago."

"She shouldn't have been by herself anyways," Percy said. "She's always with the Hunters, she's the lieutenant."

"You know her from your camp?" Jason asked, mostly just to distract him, but also because like all the Romans, he was curious about the other demigods.

"Yeah, up until a couple years ago she was a tree at the border of camp," Percy explained, tossing the bloody gauze over the nurse's station.

"She was a what now?" Jason asked.

"It's a long story," Percy said with a sad laugh. "She's a child of Zeus too. Or Jupiter or whatever you wanna call him."

Jason set about cleaning the gash, finding it smaller than he would have thought for how much blood there was, spanning from the top of her hip to the bottom of her ribs. Jason had seen many battle wounds, but he had never had to play medic, it was making his stomach turn.

"It's not that deep," Hazel said, looking over Jason's shoulder. "That's good, right?

"I think so," Jason said, stepping back and letting Hazel at the bedside. "You got this, Hazel?"

Hazel nodded, but Jason could see her hands shaking. "Just like socks," Percy assured her.

"A giant person shaped sock," Hazel said. "Shine the flashlight on here, please."

Jason followed orders, trying not to look directly at the wound and instead focusing on Hazel's hair. "Kind of a bummer way to meet your sister," Percy joked, also facing away from Hazel's work.

"Wait, are you siblings if you have the same godly parent but one's the Roman version?"

"Don't think they covered that one on Maury," Percy said. "With your dad's track record, maybe he should try Jerry Springer. Hera could smite a security guard."

"Man, you really have beef with my dad, huh?" Jason said.

"He's been threatening to kill me since I was twelve, we aren't exactly each other's biggest fan," Percy shrugged. "And you know, it's not like I'm expecting a castle in the sky or anything, but I've been fighting back Kronos for years now and he can't even shoot me a quick 'Thanks, bud'."

"Saturn, right?" Jason asked.

"Uranus is more like it," Percy said.

"No, I mean Kronos is also called-,"

"I know what you meant," Percy said.

"I think I'm done," Hazel said, snipping the last stitch. "She's breathing normally. Or normally enough."

"See, that wasn't so hard," Percy said. "Let's get it covered before Jason tosses his cookies."

"Shut up, you didn't look either," Jason said, handing the gauze to Hazel. Percy propped Thalia up so Hazel could wrap the bandage around her midsection. All three demigods jumped as the stairwell door down the hall crashed open, Reyna, Piper, Leo, and Frank running frantically towards them followed closely behind by a hoard.

"Run!" Hazel yelled, pulling Jason's arm to get him to move. He hadn't even realized he had been rooted to the spot. Percy scooped Thalia up and led the group out the front doors, Reyna and Leo slamming them shut just as the walkers crashed into them. The kids leaned against the doors, the dead banging their fists against the glass, threatening to push it open.

"Do something!" Reyna roared at no one in particular.

" _Hijo de cabrón_ ," Leo muttered under his breath. "Everyone get away from the middle, keep pushing back."

"Leo, what are you doing?" Piper asked.

"I said move," Leo said with more command in his voice than Jason would have expected from him.

Even Reyna heeded his warning, moving to the edge of the door but still holding them closed as best they could. Leo stood back, rubbing his hands together before pressing them onto the door frame. At first, nothing happened, but a second later, white hot fire burned a path across the frame, bubbling the metal rapidly. When Leo pulled back, the door was welded shut. The demigods stumbled back in surprise, all of them turning from Leo to the door and back again.

"What in Hades was that?" Percy asked, his mouth slacking open.

"My interpretation of jazz hands," Leo joked weakly.

"You just melted metal with your bare hands," Frank said. "How did you do that?"

"Maybe we can discuss this somewhere besides two feet from a zombie hoard?" Leo suggested. "That door should hold but I don't like the way that one's looking at me."

"He's right, we need to set up camp, it'll be dark soon," Reyna said.

"What about Octavian?" Piper asked. "He's waiting for us at the house."

"Who cares?" Percy said. "I mean, oh no, poor guy."

"We can send someone to get Octavian and our supplies tomorrow morning," Reyna said, ignoring Percy. "That girl can't be moved very far, not now at least."

"Wait, you're actually going to stay here for Thalia?" Percy asked.

"You almost got yourself killed for her," Reyna said, crossing her arms defensively. "I'm sure that means something."

_

Jason could feel his head lolling over as he sat by the door with his kitchen knife. He never was good at staying up for watch, though the looming threat of being eaten was always a good motivator. He forced his eyes open, staring at the morning sunlight streaming through the window. Leo had offered to stay up with him when his own watch had ended a couple hours before, but the firestarter had fallen asleep shortly after Jason declined. Even after they had set up camp in the apartment building across from the hospital, Leo had avoided talking about what had happened earlier. Jason figured they wouldn't be getting an explanation, but he also knew no mortal could have boiled metal like that.

"I prefer a good sunrise over a sunset," Piper said, startling Jason from his staring contest with the window as she sat down next to him. "Sorry, thought you heard me."

"You're good," Jason assured, sitting a little bit straighter. "What are you doing up?"

Piper shrugged. "Hard to sleep."

"That's an understatement," Jason laughed slightly.

"Yeah, the hoard of dead bodies just across the street doesn't really help any," Piper said.

"I'm used to not sleeping, but the zombies are a nice change," Jason joked.

"If you normally dealt with things like what we saw on the roof, I can't say I blame you," Piper said. Jason shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to do. The rest of the half bloods had agreed not to tell Leo and Piper about the Gods, but none of them could figure out how they had seen the chimera or their weapons. Even if the Mist wasn't functioning properly, it also didn't explain Leo's abilities. "You guys didn't seemed surprised by it."

"Nothing's really a surprise anymore, is it?" Jason offered.

"You know what I mean," Piper said. "I want to know. Tell me."

He knew he wasn't supposed to tell her or Leo, but the tugging at his jaw told him otherwise, a puppeteer's string prying his mouth open. He was suddenly light but also slow, as if moving through Jell-o. Jason felt the words tumble past his lips. "It's a monster, called a chimera. We're all trained to fight them."

Piper moved closer to him, her eyes wide. "Why are you trained to fight monsters?"

"I shouldn't be saying this," Jason said, but in the same breath he added, "I'm a demigod. We're all demigods."

"Wait what?" Piper said, backing away slightly. Jason felt the string snap as Piper looked away from him, at the sound of a loud scream down below.

The rest of the group shot up quickly. Percy was the first to stand, already grabbing an ax from the floor. "The walkers must have gotten out," He said.

"No way, that door was welded shut," Frank said, pulling on his shoes. Percy was already out the door before anyone else had even grabbed a weapon.

" _Tonto_ , where do you think you're going half cocked?" Reyna yelled after him. She looked back at the rest of the group. "Let's go!"

"I'm sensing a recurring theme with him," Leo said.


	12. Exit

Nico drove ahead of them on the motorcycle they had stolen back from Hera's bandits. Annabeth had taken a leap of faith and let Luke drive the van Artemis had procured for them. That decision may have been spurred on by the fact that she hadn't been able to keep her hands steady. Luke could tell Artemis' theory of Percy's fate had gotten to her more than Hera's had.

"Annabeth," Luke said, gently nudging her. She hadn't been asleep, but she blinked blearily as if she had been. Despite having been staring blankly out the passenger side window for the majority of the drive, it didn't seem like she had noticed they had even stopped. "We're almost at the hospital. We have to walk from here, there's too many cars to get through."

"Hm," Annabeth said, nodding slightly as she tightened her grip on her knife. She got out of the van, blinking up at the hot sun. She pulled off Percy's blue flannel that she wore and tied it around her waist, following Luke up to where Nico stood waiting by his motorcycle.

"It's not too far from here," Nico said.

"I remember," Annabeth said. "Do you really think he's going to be there?" Luke heard the doubt seep into her voice.

 _Good. Let her suffer._

Luke rubbed his eye harshly, as if trying to smash the voice in his head like a bug. Even if he resented Percy, he didn't want Annabeth's resolve to be crushed. He was even kind of hoping the twerp was alive, though some parts of him didn't exactly agree. It would at least set Annabeth back to normal.

"I saw him there. The spirits showed me him," Nico nodded.

"He wasn't there before," Annabeth said. It wasn't a question of faith, but more of a reminder to herself.

 _She trusts the son of Hades more than she trusts you. You saved her life. You sacrificed so much for her. And yet she cares more for him._

"Can it," Luke said quietly to the voice, earning a side eyed look from Grover.

"I know, but I saw what I saw," Nico said, not noticing Luke's little outburst.

"Then let's go, kids," Luke said, hoisting his back pack up on his bad side. He was getting pretty good at doing things one handed. He couldn't quite handle Back Biter to his normal skill level, but he welded the hatchet decently enough that he hadn't yet lost his left hand.

Nico led them forward, with Luke bringing up the rear. They wove through the labyrinth of abandoned vehicles, forced to climb over barricades made from cars that had been smashed together in wrecks from people too eager to escape. Luke had only been to Los Angeles once, to take on the curse of Achilles. It hasn't exactly been a trip full of celebrity elbow rubbing or tour taking.

"I thought a big city like this would be crawling with walkers," Will said.

"Uh yeah," Luke said, almost startled that anyone would be trying to have a conversation with him that wasn't about how little they trusted him. "I think the military cleared a lot of them out."

"It doesn't look like New York City at all," Will said. "It's totally abandoned."

"They had the good sense to leave," Grover said, looking back over his shoulder at Luke.

"There's a few entrances," Nico said, stopping and turning towards the rest of the group as they approached the hospital. It looked like any other Luke had seen, looming and white. A few windows were broken, but it was mostly intact.

"We could split up and look," Luke suggested.

"Sure, you and Daphne take the haunted basement, Scoob and I will take the equally haunted attic," Annabeth deadpanned. "No, we're not splitting up, that's way too dangerous."

 _She thinks you're an idiot. You used to be her leader, her hero, now, you're a nuisance._

"Where do we start?" Luke said, a little too loudly to cover the voice.

"The bottom, I would think," Nico said. "Just check all the rooms until-,"

"Wait," Annabeth said, holding her knife hand up, looking behind her at the hospital. "Do you guys hear that?"

The five of them stood still for a moment, listening intently. "Walkers," Luke said, hearing the shuffling and groaning of the dead.

"Is that coming from inside?" Will asked.

"No," Annabeth said, almost to herself. "No, it can't be."

Annabeth bolted towards one of the entrances, despite the boys yelling after her to wait. Luke was the first to catch up with her, finding her staring blankly at a door that buzzed with the dead fighting to get out. They had broken the glass in the window, their arms reaching out towards them. Annabeth stood almost close enough to grab her. The look on her face told Luke she might not mind if they did.

"It's welded shut," Luke said, touching the seam of the door melted in the middle. The others met up with them, looking from the door to Annabeth. "The army must've done it to keep them in."

"Some of the windows are broken," Grover said. "He could've gotten out."

"There's so many," Annabeth said, looking at the arms wrestling each other, cutting themselves on the broken glass.

"We could check the other entrances," Nico said, not taking his eyes off of her.

"He's supposed to be here," Annabeth said. Luke had seen monsters and corpses rise from the grave, but he never thought he would see Annabeth's breaking point. She lunged quickly and thrusted her blade into the forehead of the nearest walker with tears streaming down her face.

"Annabeth-," Will said, trying to grab her arm, but she ripped it away.

"This place is filled with walkers," Annabeth said. "If he's in there, he's one of them."

"He could've gotten out," Grover said, tears choking his voice as well.

"Nico said he was here," Annabeth said. "He's supposed to be here. We have looked all over this gods damned country and he's not here," She turned back to the door, stabbing each walker as they put their face in the way of the window.

"Annabeth, please," Luke said, not wanting to make the mistake of reaching out to her.

"Open the door," Annabeth said, eyeing the door up and down.

"What?" Nico asked. "Annabeth, that's-,"

"Pry it from the middle," Annabeth ordered. "There's a few gaps, it'll open. I need to see their faces."

The boys looked at each other, almost willing the other to say something but no one wanting to have to face Annabeth's wrath. Nico stepped forward with his axe, sliding it into one of the gaps, Annabeth did the same with her knife while holding the door shut, and together they broke the metal seal. Luke took Annabeth's place, holding the door shut while Nico held the other. Annabeth backed up, wielding her knife at her side.

"We can let out a few at a time," Luke said to Nico.

 _Let them out. Let them roam. Let them feed._

"A few at a time," Nico agreed.

Luke gave a little, letting three walkers stubble out passed him before he leaned heavily on the door to push it back shut. Annabeth took each out on her own, her face a mask of solid determination.

"More," Annabeth ordered. Nico looked like he wanted to argue, but he did as he was told, letting the walkers out, five this time.

Will and Grover aided her, checking their faces before they dropped them to their second death. Luke and Nico let more out, only a few at a time, until there was no more push back on the door. They looked at each other, for once hoping for more walkers but the hallway had emptied out.

"We could go inside," Will suggested, watching Annabeth as she breathed heavily, eyes on the door but her face showing she was clearly much more far off than the walls of the hospital.

"He's not in there," She said, her voice edged with certainty. "He's not in there."

"Annabeth," Nico said, stepping away from the door finally. "I'm so sorry. I thought-,"

"It's not your fault," Annabeth said. "Hera told me, Artemis told me. But I thought I knew better. I always think I know better."

"He's survived worse before," Grover said. "He wasn't one of them. He could still be alive."

"If he was anywhere, it'd be here," Annabeth said. "He's not here. He's gone. That's what Poseidon was trying to tell me. I didn't listen."

"We can still look," Luke found himself offering.

"There's no point," Annabeth said, her voice raising. The tension broke as a groan rumbled out through the hallway.

"There's more," Nico said, putting his axe up. Luke looked behind the door, only seeing a rough outline of the walker coming towards them until it came forward into the light. His stomach tightened as he saw a shock of jet black hair and tan skin that had sallowed with death.

"Oh my gods," Grover said, covering his mouth as if he were about to vomit.

"I have to know," Annabeth said, clutching her knife as she stepped back to her fighting stance. "He wouldn't want to be one of them."

The walker's head hung forward on a broken neck, but that didn't slow it down as it walked forward with arms outstretched. Annabeth moved quickly, snatching its head up and looking into its face, finding clouded over brown eyes instead of green.

She let out an unearthly scream as she plunged the knife up into the walker's jaw, dropping to her knees alongside it. Annabeth put her face in her hands, sobs wracking her body. Luke wanted to comfort her but he didn't know how. Even if Luke wasn't directly responsible, her cries only served to remind him that his goals for the last few years would have brought upon the same outcome. Nico dropped his weapon, despite what they had always been told in training, and moved to wrap his arms around Annabeth. Luke half expected her to throw him off, but instead, she leaned into him, crying on his shoulder as he patted her back.

Footsteps approaching them broke through Annabeth, pushing her onto her feet quickly, her knife back in hand. She took her stanch once again, only to drop it as she saw who lead the group out of the apartment building from across the street.

"You've got to be kidding me," Luke said under his breath.

 _How?_

"Annabeth?" Percy asked, his bat dropping limply to his side.

Annabeth stood frozen in the street, her eyes locked on him as if studying every inch to see if he were real. "Percy," She said, almost too quiet for anyone but herself to hear, her face not betraying any emotion. Percy's group stared at each other, dumbfounded. "Percy," She said again, louder as she ran to him. He moved forward to meet her, pulling her into a hug with such force that he lifted her off her feet.

"I'm sorry," Luke heard him say into her hair as he held her close to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this to you again."

 _He's back. She has him now. She doesn't need you. She never did. She wants him. Look at how she looks at him._

Annabeth laughed tearfully as he set her down. "I should've known you would, Seaweed Brain."

"You actually missed me," Percy laughed, wiping his own face to hold composure. Annabeth punched his shoulder. He tilted his head slightly as he looked her over. "Is that my shirt?"


	13. Clash

Percy didn't have enough time to recover before he was suddenly locked into a group hug by his satyr best friend. He didn't protest being squished into Annabeth, he didn't care that they were still in the middle of an abandoned, walking corpse ridden city; he had found his friends.

"I'm putting a tracker in your big head," Grover said, finally releasing him. "We've been worried sick. Your mom-,"

"Is she okay?" Percy asked quickly.

"She's fine, she's at camp with Chiron," Annabeth assured. "Pregnant, but okay."

"Wait, my mom is? Gross."

Annabeth shoved his arm again. "We've been looking for you for months, where have you been?"

"We found him a couple weeks ago in there," Jason said, nodding up at the hospital. "I'm Jason."

"Annabeth."

"We figured," Jason said with a smirk that Percy wanted to elbow him for.

"This is Grover, Nico, Will, and Luke," Annabeth said, pointing out each one as she said their names.

Percy's heart lurched at the last name as he gripped his bat tighter. In his euphoria, he hadn't even noticed the blonde man standing behind Nico and Will. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"'Thanks' would be fine too, Jackson," Luke said. Percy moved towards him, his bat held at the ready, but Annabeth stepped in his way. Percy noticed the Romans held their defensive stance as well. They had no way of knowing what Luke had done, but they trusted him enough to follow his lead.

"Percy, wait-,"

"Thanks for what?" Percy spat. "For betraying me and everyone at camp? Or how about killing Beckendorf? All those times you tried to kill me? Lemme know which it is, I'll put a note on your gift basket."

"He helped us get here," Will said.

"And that's supposed to make up for what he did?" Percy asked.

"Of course it's not," Annabeth said, putting her hand on his chest as she looked up at him. He felt calmer, but only slightly. Percy met her eyes, clear grey begging him to listen to her. Percy trusted Annabeth more than anyone in his life, but he knew she could be soft when it came to Luke.

"You're defending him?" Percy asked, his voice so quiet, only Annabeth could hear the betrayal in his tone. "After all he did?"

"I would be dead right now if it weren't for him," Annabeth said. "He saved me from being bitten."

Percy swallowed hard, keeping his gaze locked on Annabeth's. A bad taste formed in his mouth, a sour envy that flipped his stomach. Luke had protected Annabeth when he couldn't. While Percy laid in a bed and wandered around Los Angeles aimlessly. Since they had met his first summer at camp, he and Annabeth had been a team. With his turn to the dark side, it was easy to forget that before that, Luke had been her partner. Annabeth dropped her hand from his chest, as if telling him it was his decision to make.

Percy stepped passed Annabeth, standing almost toe to toe with Luke. He looked Luke up and down as the blond stood up straighter, as if trying to intimidate him. Percy hadn't been this close to him since he was twelve. He noted that he had at least an inch on the man who he used to look up to. He could easily run Luke through with his sword right now, take revenge for his friend's death, but he held still.

"You're only alive right now because she's asking me," Percy said, putting as much venom in his voice as he could muster. "But if you so much as breathe in the direction of out of line, I'm taking your other arm."

After checking over Thalia and making sure a few dozen times that Percy was really, really there, Annabeth all but passed out with her head on his lap as he sat on the couch in the living room in the apartment. Percy normally would have teased her for it, but the feeling of not wanting to let him out of her sight was a mutual one. He absently stroked the blonde curls, catching Jason giving him a smirk. It would be virtually impossible to convince the Romans that she wasn't his girlfriend now.

"She's barely slept in weeks," Nico said. The son of Hades leaned up against the couch, looking out into the apartment as if surveying. "It's a good thing we found you, otherwise I think she would've just dropped." Percy felt a surge of guilt as he looked down at Annabeth's sleeping face. As if sensing it, Nico looked at Percy, shaking his head. "Don't apologize."

"Kinda hard not to," Percy said.

"You know, not everything is up to you," Nico said. "I shouldn't have brought you out here in the first place."

"You were just trying to help me defeat Kronos," Percy said. Nico looked away again, his jaw set hard as if he was physically holding words back. Instead, he shrugged. "How did you get back?" Percy asked.

"I'm not sure," Nico said. "I woke up in Central Park after losing you. I ran into Luke on my way back to camp when he threw some dracnae off me."

Percy tensed up again. "Well isn't Luke just a damn peach."

Nico allowed the smallest hint of a smile pass his lips. "She didn't cross the country looking for Luke. Just you," Nico said."She spent most of the time telling him to shut up. She just didn't want to leave him at camp if she wasn't there to protect everyone."

"He saved her."

"So?" Nico asked. "Doesn't mean he's not still an asshole."

"An asshole she's had a crush on since she was seven," Percy said. He blushed slightly, wondering why that was such an important detail to him. "Not that that's like something that matters. I'm just saying, her judgement is clouded."

"Sure, man," Nico said. "But don't give her a hard time about it. She didn't want to bring him either, but she knows what she's doing."

"Since when did you become such an Annabeth fan?" Percy asked.

Nico shrugged again. "We have a lot in common."


End file.
